Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and worship God in reverence and fear in a way that pleases him.

Stop being carried away by all kinds of unusual teachings, for it is good that the heart be strengthened by grace, not by food laws that have never helped those who follow them.

That is why Jesus, in order to sanctify the people by his own blood, also suffered outside the city gate.

For here we have no permanent city but are looking for the one that is coming.

Therefore, through him let us always bring God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess his name.

Continue to follow and be submissive to your leaders, since they are watching over your souls as those who will have to give a word of explanation. By doing this, you will be letting them carry out their duties joyfully, and not with grief, for that would be harmful for you.

Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

I especially ask you to do this so that I may be brought back to you sooner.

You should know that our brother Timothy has been set free. If he comes soon, he will be with me when I see you.

because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

But you must let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

But he must ask in faith, without any doubts, for the one who has doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass. The flower in it drops off, and its beauty is gone. That is how the rich person will fade away in his pursuits.

How blessed is the man who endures temptation! When he has passed the test, he will receive the victor's crown of life that God has promised to those who keep on loving him.

When that desire becomes pregnant, it gives birth to sin; and when that sin grows up, it gives birth to death.

In accordance with his will he made us his children by the word of truth, so that we might become the most important of his creatures.

For human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Therefore, rid yourselves of everything impure and every expression of wickedness, and with a gentle spirit welcome the word planted in you that can save your souls.

But the one who looks at the perfect law of freedom and remains committed to it thereby demonstrating that he is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of what that law requires will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone thinks that he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but instead deceives himself, his religion is worthless.

A religion that is pure and stainless according to God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows who are suffering, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Listen, my dear brothers! God has chosen the poor in the world to become rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who keep on loving him, has he not?

You believe that there is one God. That's fine! Even the demons believe that and tremble with fear.

Do you want proof, you foolish person, that faith without actions is worthless?

You see that his faith worked together with what he did, and by his actions his faith was made complete.

And so the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." And so he was called God's friend.

You observe that a person is justified through actions and not through faith alone.

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more severely than others.

And look at ships! They are so big that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the helmsman directs.

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his noble conduct that his actions are done humbly and wisely.

That kind of wisdom does not come from above. No, it is worldly, self-centered, and demonic.

However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, willing to yield, full of compassion and good deeds, and without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.

Where do those fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your selfish desires that are at war in your bodies, don't they?

You adulterers! Don't you know that friendship with the world means hostility with God? So whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God.

Or do you think the Scripture means nothing when it says that the Spirit that God caused to live in us jealously yearns for us?

You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Instead you should say, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that."

Now listen, you rich people! Cry and moan over the miseries that are overtaking you.

Look! The wages that you kept back from the workers who harvested your fields are shouting out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.

We consider those who endured to be blessed. You have heard about Job's endurance and have seen the purpose of the Lord that the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Therefore, make it your habit to confess your sins to one another and to pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

you may be sure that whoever brings a sinner back from his wrong path will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

and to an inheritance kept in heaven for you that can't be destroyed, corrupted, or changed.

Through faith you are being protected by God's power for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of this era.

so that your genuine faith, which is more valuable than gold that perishes when tested by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus, the Messiah, is revealed.

Even the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, carefully researched and investigated this salvation.

They tried to find out what era or specific time the Spirit of the Messiah in them kept referring to when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who brought you the good news through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things that even the angels desire to look into.

As obedient children, do not be shaped by the desires that used to influence you when you were ignorant.

For you know that it was not with perishable things like silver or gold that you have been ransomed from the worthless way of life handed down to you by your ancestors,

but with the precious blood of the Messiah, like that of a lamb without blemish or defect.

Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.

Now that you have obeyed the truth and have purified your souls to love your brothers sincerely, you must love one another intensely and with a pure heart.

For you have been born again, not by a seed that perishes but by one that cannot perish by the living and everlasting word of God.

but the word of the Lord lasts forever." Now this word is the good news that was announced to you.

Like newborn babies, thirst for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in your salvation.

Surely you have tasted that the Lord is good!

you, too, as living stones, are building yourselves up into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, so that you may offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus, the Messiah.

Therefore he is precious to you who believe, but to those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,

Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and exiles to keep on abstaining from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul.

Continue to live such upright lives among the gentiles that, when they slander you as practicers of evil, they may see your good actions and glorify God when he visits them.

For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.

"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the tree, so that we might die to those sins and live righteously. "By his wounds you have been healed."

You were "like sheep that kept going astray," but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

In a similar way, you wives must submit yourselves to your husbands so that, even if some of them refuse to obey the word, they may be won over without a word through your conduct as wives

In a similar way, you husbands must live with your wives in an understanding manner, as with a most delicate partner. Honor them as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing may interfere with your prayers.

But do this gently and respectfully, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak evil of your good conduct in the Messiah will be ashamed of slandering you.

After all, if it is the will of God, it is better to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong.

For the Messiah also suffered for sins once for all, an innocent person for the guilty, so that he could bring you to God. He was put to death in a mortal body but was brought to life by the Spirit,

who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah, when God waited patiently while the ark was being built. In it a few, that is, eight persons, were saved by water.

Baptism, which is symbolized by that water, now saves you also, not by removing dirt from the body, but by asking God for a clear conscience based on the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah,

so that he can live the rest of his mortal life guided, not by human desires, but by the will of God.

They insult you now because they are surprised that you are no longer joining them in the same excesses of wild living.

Indeed, this is why the gospel was proclaimed even to those who have died, so that they could be judged in their mortal flesh like all humans and live in the spiritual realm like God.

Whoever speaks must speak God's words. Whoever serves must serve with the strength that God supplies, so that in every way God may be glorified through Jesus, the Messiah. Glory and power belong to him forever and ever! Amen.

Dear friends, do not be surprised by the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

Instead, because you are participating in the sufferings of the Messiah, keep on rejoicing, so that you may be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.

But if you suffer for being a Christian, do not feel ashamed, but glorify God with that name.

Be shepherds of God's flock that is among you, watching over it, not because you must but because you want to, and not greedily but eagerly, as God desires.

Then, when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the victor's crown of glory that will never fade away.

Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

Resist him and be firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.

Through Silvanus, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written this short letter to encourage you and to testify that this is to be the true grace of God in which you are to stand firm!

From: Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus, the Messiah. To: Those who have received faith that is as valuable as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus the Messiah.

Through these he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, seeing that you have escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires.

For the person who lacks these qualities is blind and shortsighted, and has forgotten the cleansing that he has received from his past sins.

Therefore, I intend to keep on reminding you about these things, even though you already know them and are firmly established in the truth that you now have.

because I know that the removal of my bodily tent will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, has shown me.

And I will make every effort to see that you will always remember these things after I am gone.

We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

Therefore we regard the message of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp that is shining in a gloomy place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

for as long as that righteous man lived among them, day after day he was being tortured in his righteous soul by what he saw and heard in their lawless actions

These people, like irrational animals, are mere creatures of instinct that are born to be caught and killed. They insult what they don't understand, and like animals they, too, will be destroyed,

But he was rebuked for his offense. A donkey that normally cannot talk spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's insanity.

For if, after escaping the world's corruptions through a full knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah, they are again entangled and conquered by those corruptions, then their last condition is worse than their former one.

It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn their backs on the holy commandment that was committed to them.

The proverb is true that describes what has happened to them: "A dog returns to its vomit," and "A pig that is washed goes back to wallow in the mud."

But they deliberately ignore the fact that long ago the heavens existed and the earth was formed by God's word out of water and with water,

by which the world at that time was deluged with water and destroyed.

Now by that same word, the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire and are being kept for the day when ungodly people will be judged and destroyed.