whom God the Father has predestined and chosen, by the consecration of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: may grace and peace be multiplied to you.

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!

as He who called you is holy, so you must be holy too in all your conduct ??16 for it is written, You shall be holy because I am holy.

And as you call upon a Father who judges everyone impartially by what he has done, be reverent in your conduct while you sojourn here below;

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.

For thus it stands in the scripture: Here I lay a Stone in Sion, a choice, a precious cornerstone: he who believes in him will never be disappointed.

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.

Servants, be submissive to your masters with perfect respect, not simply to those who are kind and reasonable but to the surly as well ??19 for it is a merit when from a sense of God one bears the pain of unjust suffering.

he was reviled and made no retort, he suffered and never threatened, but left everything to Him who judges justly;

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.

he who would love Life and enjoy good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile:

Yet who will wrong you if you have a passion for goodness?

but reverence Christ as Lord in your own hearts. Always be ready with a reply for anyone who calls you to account for the hope you cherish, but answer gently and with a sense of reverence;

who had disobeyed at the time when God's patience held out during the construction of the ark in the days of Noah ??the ark by which only a few souls, eight in all, were brought safely through the water.)

who is at God's right hand ??for he went to heaven after angels, authorities, and powers celestial had been made subject to him.)

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,

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

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.

It is time for the Judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the fate of those who refuse obedience to God's gospel?

So let those who are suffering by the will of God trust their souls to him, their faithful Creator, as they continue to do right.

Once you have suffered for a little, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will repair and recruit and strengthen you.

Salute one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ [Jesus].