1 Peter 2

¹Stripping away all malice, then, and every kind of deceit, theatrical acting, envies, and all forms of backstabbing, ²like newborn babies, crave the unadulterated milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow into salvation— ³if, indeed, you have tasted that the Lord is kind.

⁴Come to him, a living stone—rejected by humans, it is true, but in God’s sight chosen and precious. ⁵You yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy order of priests, to offer up spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For it stands written in Scripture: “Look! I am placing a chosen, precious cornerstone in Zion, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

⁷This honor, then, belongs to you who trust; but for those who do not trust: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” ⁸and “A stone that causes stumbling and a rock that trips people up.” They stumble because they disobey the Word; they were destined for this very thing.

⁹But you are a chosen family, a royal order of priests, a holy nation, a people set apart as a treasure, so that you might broadcast the mighty acts of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹Beloved ones, I urge you as resident aliens and visiting strangers to keep your distance from those animalistic impulses that wage war against the soul. ¹²Maintain a beautiful way of life among the outsiders so that, even when they slander you as criminals, they may see your good works and glorify God on the day of inspection.

¹³Place yourselves under the authority of every human institution for the Lord’s sake—whether to the Emperor as the supreme leader, ¹⁴or to governors as those sent by him to bring justice to criminals and to give recognition to those who do good. ¹⁵For this is God’s will: that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. ¹⁶Live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a veil for malice, but live as God’s slaves. ¹⁷Give honor to everyone: love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the Emperor.

¹⁸You domestic slaves, place yourselves under the authority of your masters with all respect—not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to the crooked ones. ¹⁹For this is a mark of grace: if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures the pain of suffering unjustly. ²⁰For what credit is there if you endure a beating for doing wrong? But if you endure suffering for doing good, this is grace in the sight of God.

²¹For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving behind a writing-template for you, so that you might follow in his tracks. ²²He committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. ²³When he was insulted, he did not return the insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but he kept entrusting himself to the one who judges justly. ²⁴He himself carried our sins in his body onto the wood, so that we might depart from sins and live for justice; by his bruise you were healed. ²⁵For you were wandering like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.