I appeal therefore to those who are elders among you; I am their brother-elder and a witness to what the Christ suffered, and I am to share in the glory that is to be revealed??2 be shepherds of the flock of God that is among you, not as though it were forced upon you but of your own free will, and not from base love of gain but freely,

be shepherds of the flock of God that is among you, not as though you had to but of your own free will, not from the motive of personal profit but freely,

As those who are free, not using your free position as a cover for wrongdoing, but living as the servants of God;

Being conscious that you have been made free from that foolish way of life which was your heritage from your fathers, not through a payment of things like silver or gold which come to destruction,

And baptism, of which this is an image, now gives you salvation, not by washing clean the flesh, but by making you free from the sense of sin before God, through the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead;

For,“The one who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good—whether apparent or not],
Must keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from speaking guile (treachery, deceit).

he himself cancel'd our sins by the crucifixion of his body, that we being set free from sin, might live in the service of virtue. it is by his bruises that you were healed:

For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free,

Free yourselves, therefore, from all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of any kind,