that is only to prove your faith is sterling (far more precious than gold which is perishable and yet is tested by fire), and it redounds to your praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Even prophets have searched and inquired about that salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was meant for you;

to them it was revealed that they got this intelligence not for themselves but for you, regarding all that has now been disclosed to you by those who preached the gospel to you through the holy Spirit sent from heaven. The very angels long to get a glimpse of this!

Brace up your minds, then, keep cool, and put your hope for good and all in the grace that is coming to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Be obedient children, instead of moulding yourselves to the passions that once ruled the days of your ignorance;

you know it was not by perishable silver or gold that you were ransomed from the futile traditions of your past,

it is by him that you believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory; and thus your faith means hope in God.

Now that your obedience to the Truth has purified your souls for a brotherly love that is sincere, love one another heartily and steadily.

but the word of the Lord lasts for ever ??and that is the word of the gospel for you.

come to him then ??come to that living Stone which men have rejected and God holds choice and precious,

come and, like living stones yourselves, be built into a spiritual house, to form a consecrated priesthood for the offering of those spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

But you are the elect race, the royal priesthood, the consecrated nation, the People who belong to Him, that you may proclaim the wondrous deeds of Him who has called you from darkness to his wonderful light ??10 you who once were no people and now are God's people, you who once were unpitied and now are pitied.

Beloved, as sojourners and exiles I appeal to you to abstain from the passions of the flesh that wage war upon the soul.

Conduct yourselves properly before pagans; so that for all their slander of you as bad characters, they may come to glorify God when you are put upon your trial, by what they see of your good deeds.

and to governors as deputed by him for the punishment of wrongdoers and the encouragement of honest people ??15 for it is the will of God that by your honest lives you should silence the ignorant charges of foolish persons.

Where is the credit in standing punishment for having done wrong? No, if you stand suffering for having done right, that is what God counts a merit.

he bore our sins in his own body on the gibbet, that we might break with sin and live for righteousness; and by his wounds you have been healed.

In the same way, you wives must be submissive to your husbands, so that even those who will not believe the Word may be won over without a word by the behaviour of their wives,

It was in this way long ago that the holy women who hoped in God adorned themselves. They were submissive to their husbands.

In the same way you husbands must be considerate in living with your wives, since they are the weaker sex; you must honour them as heirs equally with yourselves of the grace of Life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Even supposing you have to suffer for the sake of what is right, still you are blessed. Have no fear of their threats, do not let that trouble you,

see that you have a clean conscience, so that, for all their slander of you, these libellers of your good Christian behaviour may be ashamed.

For it is better to suffer for doing right (if that should be the will of God) than for doing wrong.

Christ himself died for sins, once for all, a just man for unjust men, that he might bring us near to God; in the flesh he was put to death but he came to life in the Spirit.

(It was in the Spirit that Enoch also went and preached to the imprisoned spirits

Baptism, the counterpart of that, saves you to-day (not the mere washing of dirt from the flesh but the prayer for a clean conscience before God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ

Well, as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, let this very conviction that he who has suffered in the flesh gets quit of sin,

and it astonishes them that you will not plunge with them still into the same flood of profligacy. They abuse you,

but they will have to answer for that to Him who is prepared to judge the living and the dead

(for this was why the gospel was preached to the dead as well, that while they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live as God lives in the spirit).

If anyone preaches, he must preach as one who utters the words of God; if anyone renders some service, it must be as one who is supplied by God with power, so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. The glory and the dominion are his for ever and ever: Amen.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the ordeal that has come to test you, as though some foreign experience befell you.

You are sharing what Christ suffered; so rejoice in it, that you may also rejoice and exult when his glory is revealed.

but if a man suffers for being a Christian, he must not be ashamed, he must rather glorify God for that.

Now I make this appeal to your presbyters (for I am a presbyter myself, I was a witness of what Christ suffered and I am to share the glory that will be revealed),

Humble yourselves under the strong hand of God, then, so that when it is time, he may raise you;

By the hand of Silvanus, a faithful brother (in my opinion), I have written you these few lines of encouragement, to testify that this is what the true grace of God means. Stand in that grace.