throw off then your vices as dregs and scum: and receive with docility that genuine doctrine, which is effectual to your salvation.

For as soon as he hath looked on himself, he goeth his way, and forgetteth immediately what his fashion was:

But he who looks closely into the perfect Law--the Law of freedom--and continues looking, he, being not a hearer who forgets, but an obedient doer, will as the result of his obedience be blessed.

Pure and unblemished religion [as it is expressed in outward acts] in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit and look after the fatherless and the widows in their distress, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the [secular] world.

My brothers, do not hold [views regarding] the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ [i.e., as tenets of Christianity] which show favoritism toward [certain] persons.

Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him?

If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

For whoever keeps the whole Law but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of [breaking] all of it.

So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

So also faith, if it is unaccompanied by obedience, has no life in it--so long as it stands alone.

Someone will object, 'And you claim to have faith!' Yes, and I claim to have deeds as well; you show me your faith without any deeds, and I will show you by my deeds what faith is!

You believe that God is one; you do well [to believe that]. The demons also believe [that], and shudder and bristle [in awe-filled terror—they have seen His wrath]!

Was our father Abraham not [shown to be] justified by works [of obedience which expressed his faith] when he offered Isaac his son on the altar [as a sacrifice to God]?

You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;

And the scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called Friend of God.

You see that a man (believer) is justified by works and not by faith alone [that is, by acts of obedience a born-again believer reveals his faith].

And in like manner was not also Rahab the harlot accounted as righteous through works, when she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.

For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well.

Now if we put bits into horses' mouths to make them obey us, we can guide their whole bodies as well.

So too with ships, great as they are, and often driven along by strong gales, yet they can be steered with a very small rudder in whichever direction the caprice of the man at the helm chooses.

So is it with the tongue. Small as it is, it is a great boaster. Think how tiny a spark may set the largest forest ablaze!

And, the tongue, is a fire, - as , the world of unrighteousness, the tongue, becometh fixed among our members, that which defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the wheel of our natural life, and is set on fire, by gehenna!

This [superficial] wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly (secular), natural (unspiritual), even demonic.

Whence are wars and fightings among you? not thence -- out of your passions, that are as soldiers in your members?

Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

You adulteresses [disloyal sinners—flirting with the world and breaking your vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend [that is, loving the things of the world] is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

But He gives more abundant grace, as is implied in His saying, "God sets Himself against the haughty, but to the lowly He gives grace."

Be miserable and grieve and weep [over your sin]. Let your [foolish] laughter be turned to mourning and your [reckless] joy to gloom.

Do not slander one another, brothers, [for] the person who speaks against his brother, or judges him, is [guilty of] speaking against the law [of God]. But when you judge the law, you are not obeying it but acting as its judge.

As for you, who affirm, "to-day, or, to-morrow we will go to such a city, we will stay there a whole year, there we will traffic, and find our account."

But as it is, you boast [vainly] in your pretension and arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

As for you that are rich: weep, and lament the miserys that are falling upon you.

Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

So wait patiently, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits [expectantly] for the precious harvest from the land, being patient about it, until it receives the early and late rains.

Be as calm in your waiting; let your hearts be strong: because the coming of the Lord is near.

Stop muttering against one another, brothers, so as to keep from being judged yourselves. Look! The Judge is standing at the very door.

Take as an example, brethren, of suffering and having patience, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord.

You know we call those blessed [happy, spiritually prosperous, favored by God] who were steadfast and endured [difficult circumstances]. You have heard of the patient endurance of Job and you have seen the Lord’s outcome [how He richly blessed Job]. The Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

Above all, my brothers, stop swearing, either by heaven or by the earth, or by anything else. Let your "Yes" mean Yes, and your "No," No, so as to keep from falling under condemnation.

Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its crops [as usual].

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is to be praised for being so merciful as to have given us a new birth, which provides for us a hope of never ending life through the means of Jesus Christ's return from the dead.

whom though you have not seen, you love: and though he is not now the object of your view, yet you believe in him, and triumph with such a laudable transport, as cannot be express'd:

while you are securing as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries,

Searching into what particular, or what manner, of season the Spirit of Christ which was in them was pointing to, when witnessing beforehand as to - The sufferings, for Christ, and the glories, after these, -

And it was revealed to them that it was not for themselves, but for you, that they were acting as Ministers of the truths which have now been told to you, by those who, with the help of the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven, have brought you the Good News--truths into which even angels long to look.

Therefore, as a means of spiritual preparation, tighten up the belt about your minds, keep perfectly calm, keep your hope on the spiritual blessing to be conferred upon you at the unveiling of Jesus Christ.

As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

Inasmuch as it is written - Holy shall ye be, because, I, am holy.

And if ye call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear:

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

And as you have made your souls clean, being ruled by what is true, and loving one another without deceit, see that your love is warm and from the heart:

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

but the word of the Lord endures forever.

And this is the word that was preached as the gospel to you.

Renouncing therefore every kind of malice, and knavery, hypocrisy, envy, and detraction, as new-born infants desire that mystical milk,

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

adhere to him as to a living stone,

To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Inasmuch as it is contained in scripture - Lo! I lay in Zion an outmost corner stone, chosen, held in honour, and, he that resteth faith thereupon, shall not be put to shame.

For you therefore that believe is the preciousness: but for such as disbelieve, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner;

and,“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they disobey the word [of God], and to this they [who reject Him as Savior] were also appointed.

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;

Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

For the will of God is as follows: [by] doing good to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

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.

For this finds favor, if a person endures the sorrow of suffering unjustly because of an awareness of [the will of] God.

He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been healed.

For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands [subordinate, not as inferior, but out of respect for the responsibilities entrusted to husbands and their accountability to God, and so partnering with them] so that even if some do not obey the word [of God], they may be won over [to Christ] without discussion by the godly lives of their wives,

as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.

Do not let your ornaments be those of the body such as dressing of the hair, or putting on of jewels of gold or fair clothing;

For in this way in former times the holy women, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands and adapting themselves to them;

Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

and never return evil for evil or insult for insult [avoid scolding, berating, and any kind of abuse], but on the contrary, give a blessing [pray for one another’s well-being, contentment, and protection]; for you have been called for this very purpose, that you might inherit a blessing [from God that brings well-being, happiness, and protection].

but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear:

Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

For it is better, if the will of God should will it, to suffer as well-doers than as evildoers;

Forasmuch as Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, for to bring us to God, and was killed, as pertaining to the flesh: but was quickened in the spirit.

after they were disobedient long ago when God patiently waited in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed. In the ark a few, that is eight souls, were delivered through water.

which figure also now saves you, even baptism, not a putting away of the filth of flesh, but the demand as before God of a good conscience, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

For the time already past is [more than] enough for doing what the [unsaved] Gentiles like to do—living [unrestrained as you have done] in a course of [shameless] sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries.

At this they are astonished--that you do not run into the same excess of profligacy as they do; and they speak abusively of you.

For to this end were the glad tidings preached to the dead also, that they might be judged, as regards men, after the flesh, but live, as regards God, after the Spirit.