A Living Stone and a Holy People

¹jSo put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. ²kLike newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual lmilk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— ³if indeed you have mtasted that the Lord is good.

⁴As you come to him, a living stone nrejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵oyou yourselves like living stones are being built up as pa spiritual house, to be qa holy priesthood, rto offer spiritual sacrifices sacceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For it stands in Scripture:

t“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone chosen and precious,

uand whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

⁷So the honor is for you who vbelieve, but for those who vdo not believe,

w“The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone,”1

⁸and

x“A stone of stumbling,

and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, yas they were destined to do.

⁹But you are za chosen race, aa royal bpriesthood, ca holy nation, da people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you eout of darkness into fhis marvelous light. ¹⁰gOnce you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹Beloved, I urge you has sojourners and exiles ito abstain from the passions of the flesh, jwhich wage war against your soul. ¹²kKeep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, lthey may see your good deeds and glorify God on mthe day of visitation.

Submission to Authority

¹³nBe subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,2 whether it be to the emperor3 as supreme, ¹⁴or to governors as sent by him oto punish those who do evil and pto praise those who do good. ¹⁵For this is the will of God, qthat by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶rLive as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but sliving as servants4 of God. ¹⁷tHonor everyone. uLove the brotherhood. vFear God. Honor the emperor.

¹⁸wServants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. ¹⁹For this is a gracious thing, when, xmindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. ²⁰For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But yif when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. ²¹For zto this you have been called, ybecause Christ also suffered for you, aleaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. ²²bHe committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. ²³cWhen he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, dbut continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. ²⁴eHe himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we fmight die to sin and glive to righteousness. hBy his wounds you have been healed. ²⁵For iyou were straying like sheep, but have now returned to jthe Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.