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

having been regenerated, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of the living God, which remains.

Because, indeed, you have tasted that the Lord is good;

to whom coming, as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, and precious;

you, also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual temple, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices, most acceptable to God, through Jesus Christ.

who formerly were not a people, but now are a people of God; who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Have your behavior comely, among the Gentiles, that, whereas, they speak against you, as evil doers, having beheld your good works, they may glorify God, in the day of visitation.

or to governor, as those sent by him for the punishment, indeed, of evil doers; but for the praise of them who do good.

For so is the will of God, that, by doing good, you put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Live as freemen, yet do not use your freedom as a covering of wickedness; but as the servants of God.

Treat all men with respect: love the brotherhood: fear God: honor the king.

Let household servants be subject to their masters, with all reverence; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

For this is acceptable, if any one, from conscience of God, sustain sorrows, suffering unjustly.

But what praise is due, if, when you commit faults and are buffeted, you bear it patiently? Yet if, when you do well, and suffer, you bear it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

but-the hidden man of the heart, with the incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which, in the sight of God, is of great value.

For thus, anciently, the holy women, also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands;

"For he who is desirous to enjoy life, and to see good days, let him restrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.

Let him turn away from evil, and do good; let him turn away from evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and pursue it.

Besides, who is he that will do evil to you, if you be imitators of the Good One?

but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be always prepared for giving an answer, with meekness and reverence, to every one who asks of you a reason for the hope which is in you.

Hold fast a good conscience, that, whereas they speak against you as evil doers, they may be put to shame who arraign your good behavior in Christ.

For it is better to suffer as well doers, if the will of God appoints it, than as evil doers.

For even Christ once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God; being put to death, indeed, in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit.

who formerly were disobedient, when the patience of God once waited, in the days of Noah, while an ark was preparing, in which few, that is, eight souls, were effectually saved through water-

the antitype, immersion, does, also, now save us, (not putting away the filth of the flesh; but seeking of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ;

who, having gone into heaven, is at the right hand of God; angels, and authorities, and powers, being subjected to him.

so that he no longer lives his remaining time in the flesh, to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

For, to this end of the gospel was preached to the dead, that they might, indeed, be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

Let every one, according as he has received a gift, minister it to the others, as good stewards of the manifold favor of God.

If any one speak, let him speak as the oracles of God: if any one minister, let him do it as from the strength which God supplies; that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

If you be reproached for the name of Christ, you are happy; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

However, if any one suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him even glorify God on that account.

Indeed, the time is come that punishment must begin at the house of God; and if it begin first at us, what the end of them who do not obey the gospel of God?

Wherefore, then, let those who suffer by the will of God, commit their own lives to him in well doing, as a faithful Creator.

Feed the flock of God, which is with you; exercising the overseer's office, not by constraint, but willingly; neither for the sake of sordid gain, but from good disposition;

neither as lording it over the heritage of God, but, being patterns to the flock:

For the like reason, you younger persons subject yourselves to the seniors. Yes, all be subject to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud but gives favor to the humble.

Be humbled, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.

And may the God of all favor, who has called us to his eternal glory, by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, himself make you complete; support, strengthen, establish you:

By Sylvanus, a faithful brother, (as I conclude,) I have written to you in few words, exhorting you, and strongly testifying that this is the true favor of God, in which you stand.

Symeon Peter, a servant and Apostle of Jesus Christ, to them who have obtained like precious faith with us, through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:

Favor and peace be multiplied to you, through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.

for when he received from God the Father honor and glory, a vice to this effect came to him from the magnificent glory, "This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I delight."

but the holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

For God, indeed, did not spare the angels who sinned, but with chains of darkness confining them in Tartarus, delivered them over to be kept for judgment;

But this willfully escapes them, that, by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth subsisting from the water, and by water:

expecting and earnestly desiring, the coming of the day of God; in which the heavens being set on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements burning, shall be melted?

Moreover, this is the message which we have heard from him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

But whoever keeps his word, truly in this man the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in him.

Fathers, I have written to you, because you have known him from the beginning. Young men, I have written to you, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.

Now the world passes away, and the lust of it; be he who does the will of God, abides forever.

Behold how great love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! For this reason, the world does not know us, because it did not know him.

Beloved, now we are the children of God; but it does not yet appear what we shall be. However, we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him-that we shall see him as he is.

He who works sin, is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Whoever has been begotten by God, does not work sin; because his seed abides in him; and he can not sin, because he has been begotten by God.

By this the children of God are discovered, and the children of the devil: whoever works not righteousness, is not of God, neither he who loves not his brother.

Whoever, therefore, has the goods of this world, and sees his brother in need, and yet shuts up his compassion from him, how abides the love of God in him?

But if our heart condemn us, certainly God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

Beloved, if our heart do not condemn us, we have confidence with God.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they be from God; because many false prophets are gone forth into the world.

By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is from God.

And every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, which you have heard that it comes, and now is in the world already.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because he is greater, who is with you, than he who is with the world.

We are of God: he who know God, hearkens to us; he who is not of God, hearkens not to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Beloved, let us love one another; for love is from God: and every one who loves, has been begotten by God, and knows God.

He who does not love, does not know God; for God is love.

By this the love of God was manifested to us, that God sent forth his Son, the only begotten, into the world, that we might live through him.

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent forth his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we, also, ought to love one another.

No one has seen God, at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is made perfect in us.

Whoever will confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

And we have known, and believed the love which God has in us. God is love; wherefore, he who abides in love, abides in God, and God in him.

If any one say, Indeed I love God, and yet hate his brother, he is a liar: for he who loves not his brother, whom he has seen, how can he love God, whom he has not seen?

Moreover, this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God, loves his brother, also.

Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ, has been begotten by God; and every one who loves the begetter, loves also the begotten by him.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not burdensome;

because, every one that is begotten by God, overcomes the world. And this is the victory which overcomes the world, even our faith.

Who is he that overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. Now, this is the testimony of God, which he has testified concerning his Son.

(He who believes on the Son of God, has the testimony in himself. He who believes not God, has made him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony, which God has testified concerning his Son.)

Now this is the testimony, that God has given to us eternal life: and this life is in his Son.

He who has the Son, has this life; he who has not the Son of God, has not this life.

These things I have written to you, that you may know that you have eternal life-that you may continue to believe on the name of the Son of God.

We know that whoever has been begotten by God, does not sin; but he who is begotten by God, guards himself, and the wicked on does not lay hold on him.

We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies under the wicked one.

Moreover, we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, that we might know him that is true; and we are in him that is true-in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and the eternal life.

Favor, mercy, and peace, be with you, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, with truth and love.

Whoever transgresses, and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ, has not God: he who abides in the doctrine of Christ, has both the Father and the Son.

These have borne testimony to your love, in the presence of the congregation; whom, if you help forward on their journey, in a manner worthy of God, you will do well.

Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good, is of God; but he who does evil, has not seen God.

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them who are sanctified by God the Father, and to the preserved by Jesus Christ, to the called:

For certain men have come in privily, who long ago were before written to this very condemnation; ungodly men, perverting the favor of our God to lasciviousness, and denying the only sovereign Lord, even our Lord Jesus Christ.

keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, to eternal life.

to God, alone our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now, and throughout all ages. Amen.

A revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to show to his servants the things which must shortly be; and sending by his messenger, he signified them to his servant John,

who testified the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever he saw.

and has made us kings and priests to his God and Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

I, John, who am also your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the island called Patmos, for the sake of the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the congregations. To him who conquers, I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.