The Living Stone and a Holy People

1So rid yourselves ofa all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.b 2Like newborn infants, desire the pure spiritual milk,c so that you may grow by it for your salvation,d 3since you have tastede that the Lord is good.f, g 4Coming to Him, a living stone — rejected by men but chosen and valuable to God — 5you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Godh through Jesus Christ. 6For it is contained in Scripture:

Look! I lay a stone in •Zion,i

a chosen and honoredj cornerstone,k, l

and the one who believes in Him

will never be put to shame!m, n, o

7So honor will come to you who believe, but for the unbelieving,

The stone that the builders rejected —

this One has become the cornerstone,p, q

8and

A stone to stumble over,r

and a rock to trip over.s, t, u

They stumble because they disobey the message; they were destinedv for this.

9But you are a chosen race,w, x, y a royal priesthood,z, aa

a holy nation,ab, ac a people for His possession,ad, ae

so that you may proclaim the praisesaf, ag, ah

of the One who called you out of darkness

into His marvelous light.ai

10Once you were not a people,

but now you are God’s people;

you had not received mercy,aj

but now you have received mercy.

A Call to Good Works

11Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residentsak to abstainal from fleshlyam desires that war against you.an, ao 12Conductap yourselves honorably among the Gentiles,aq so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do what is evil, they will, by observing your good works, glorify God on the day of visitation.ar, as

13Submitat to every human authorityau because of the Lord, whether to the Emperorav as the supreme authorityaw 14or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. 15For it is God’s willax that you silence the ignoranceay of foolish people by doing good. 16As God’s •slaves,az live as free people, but don’t use your freedom as a way to conceal evil.ba 17Honor everyone. Lovebb the brotherhood.bc Fear God.bd Honor the Emperor.be

Submission of Slaves to Masters

18Household slaves, submit with all fearbf to your masters,bg not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel.bh, bi 19For it brings favorbj if, mindful of God’s will,bk, bl someone endures grief from suffering unjustly. 20For what credit is there if you sin and are punished, and you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer,bm if you endure it, this brings favor with God.

21For you were called to this,

because Christ also sufferedbn for you,

leaving you an example,bo

so that you should followbp in His steps.

22He did not commit sin,bq

and no deceitbr was found in His mouth;bs, bt

23when He was reviled,

He did not revile in return;

when He was suffering,

He did not threaten

but entrusted Himself to the One who judgesbu justly.

24He Himself bore our sinsbv

in His bodybw on the tree,bx

so that, having died to sins,by

we might live for righteousness;bz

you have been healed by His wounds.ca, cb

25For you were like sheep going astray,cc, cd

but you have now returned

to the Shepherdce and Guardiancf of your souls.