The 1st Epistle of
Peter
Chapter One
  1. PETER, an apostle of ⟨Jesus⟩ ⟨Christ⟩, to the strangers scat­tered through­out Pon′-‍tus, Ga-‍la′-‍ti-‍a, Cap-‍pa-‍do′-‍ci-‍a, Asia, and Bi-‍thyn′-‍i-‍a.
  2. Elect according to the fore­knowl­edge of ⟨God⟩ the Father, through sanc­ti­fi­ca­tion of the Spirit, un­to obe­dience and sprink­ling of the bood of ⟨Jesus⟩ ⟨Christ⟩: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
  3. Blessed be the ⟨God⟩ and Father of our ⟨Lord⟩ ⟨Jesus⟩ ⟨Christ⟩, which ac­cord­ing to his abun­dant mer­cy hath be­got­ten us again un­to a live­ly hope by the res­ur­rec­tion of ⟨Jesus⟩ ⟨Christ⟩ from the dead,
  4. To an inheritance in­cor­rupt­ible and un­de­filed, and that fad­eth not away, re­served in heaven for you;
  5. Who are kept by the power of ⟨God⟩ through faith un­to sal­va­tion ready to be revealed in the last time.
  6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a sea­son, if need be ye are in heav­i­ness through mani­fold temptations:
  7. That the trial of your faith, be­ing much more pre­cious than of gold that per­i­sheth, though it be tried with fire; might be found un­to praise and hon­our and glo­ry at the ap­pear­ing of ⟨Jesus⟩ ⟨Christ⟩:
  8. Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet be­liev­ing, ye re­joice with joy un­speak­able and full of glory:
  9. Receiving the end of your faith, even the sal­va­tion of your souls.
  10. Of which salvation the proph­ets have en­quired and searched dili­gently, who proph­e­sied of the grace that should come un­to you:
  11. Searching what, or what man­ner of time the Spirit of ⟨Christ⟩ which was in them did sig­nify, when it tes­ti­fied be­fore­hand the suf­fer­ings of ⟨Christ⟩, and the glory that should follow.
  12. Unto whom it was revealed, that not un­to them­selves, but un­to us they did min­is­ter the things, which are now re­port­ed un­to you by them that have preached the gos­pel un­to you with the Holy ⟨Ghost⟩ sent down from heaven; which things the an­gels de­sire to look into.
  13. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought un­to you at the rev­e­la­tion of ⟨Jesus⟩ ⟨Christ⟩;
  14. As obedient chil­dren, not fash­ion­ing your­selves ac­cord­ing to the for­mer lusts in your ignorance:
  15. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all man­ner of conversation;
  16. Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
  17. And if ye call on the Father, who with­out re­spect of per­sons judg­eth ac­cord­ing to every man’s work, pass the time of your so­journ­ing here in fear:
  18. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not re­deemed with cor­rupt­ible things, as silver and gold, from your vain con­ver­sa­tion re­ceived by tra­di­tion from your fathers;
  19. But with the pre­cious blood of ⟨Christ⟩, as of a lamb with­out blem­ish and with­out spot:
  20. Who verily was fore­or­dained be­fore the foun­da­tion of the world, but was mani­fest in these last times for you.
  21. Who by him do be­lieve in ⟨God⟩, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in ⟨God⟩.
  22. Seeing ye have puri­fied your souls in obey­ing the truth through the Spirit un­to un­feigned love of the breth­ren, see that ye love one an­other with a pure heart fervently:
  23. Being born again, not of cor­rupt­ible seed, but of in­cor­rupt­ible, by the word of ⟨God⟩, which liv­eth and abid­eth for ever.
  24. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flow­er of grass. The grass with­er­eth, and the flow­er there­of fall­eth away:
  25. But the word of the ⟨Lord⟩ en­dur­eth for ever. And this is the word which by the gos­pel is preached un­to you.
Chapter Two
  1. WHEREFORE laying aside all mal­ice, and all guile, and hy­poc­ri­sies, and en­vies, and all evil speakings,
  2. As newborn babes, desire the sin­cere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
  3. If so be ye have tast­ed that the ⟨Lord⟩ is gracious.
  4. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, dis­al­lowed indeed of men, but chosen of ⟨God⟩, and precious,
  5. Ye also, as live­ly stones, are built up a spirit­ual house, an holy priest­hood, to offer up spirit­ual sac­ri­fices, ac­cept­able to ⟨God⟩ by ⟨Jesus⟩ ⟨Christ⟩.
  6. Wherefore also it is con­tained in the scrip­ture, Be­hold, I lay in Sion a chief cor­ner stone, elect, pre­cious: and he that be­liev­eth on him shall not be confounded.
  7. Unto you there­fore which be­lieve he is pre­cious: but unto them which be dis­o­be­dient, The stone which the build­ers dis­al­lowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
  8. And a stone of stum­bling, a rock of of­fence, even to them which stum­ble at the word, being dis­o­be­dient: where­unto also they were appointed.
  9. But ye are a chosen gen­er­a­tion, a roy­al priest­hood, an holy na­tion, a pe­cul­iar peo­ple; that ye should shew forth the prais­es of him who hath called you out of dark­ness in­to his mar­vel­lous light:
  10. Which in time past were not a peo­ple, but are now the peo­ple of ⟨God⟩: which had not ob­tained mer­cy, but now have ob­tained mercy.
  11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strang­ers and pil­grims, ab­stain from flesh­ly lusts, which war against the soul;
  12. Having your con­ver­sa­tion hon­est among the Gentiles: that, where­as they speak against you as evil­doers, they may by your good works, which they shall be­hold, glor­ify ⟨God⟩ in the day of visitation.
  13. Submit your­selves to every or­dinance of man for the ⟨Lord’s⟩ sake: wheth­er it be to the king, as supreme;
  14. Or unto governors, as un­to them that are sent by him for the pun­ish­ment of evil­doers, and for the praise of them that do well.
  15. For so is the will of ⟨God⟩, that with well doing ye may put to si­lence the ig­nor­ance of fool­ish men:
  16. As free, and not us­ing your lib­erty for a cloke of ma­li­cious­ness, but as the serv­ants of ⟨God⟩.
  17. Honour all men, Love the bro­ther­hood. Fear ⟨God⟩. Hon­our the king.
  18. Servants, be sub­ject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
  19. For this is thank­worthy, if a man for con­science to­ward ⟨God⟩ en­dure grief, suf­fer­ing wrongfully.
  20. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buf­fet­ed for your faults, ye shall take it pa­tient­ly? but if, when ye do well, and suf­fer for it, ye take it pa­tiently, this is ac­cept­able with ⟨God⟩.
  21. For even here­unto were ye called: be­cause ⟨Christ⟩ al­so suf­fered for us, leav­ing us an ex­am­ple, that ye should fol­low his steps:
  22. Who did no sin, nei­ther was guile found in his mouth:
  23. Who, when he was re­viled, re­viled not again; when he suf­fered, he threat­ened not; but com­mit­ted him­self to him that judg­eth righteously:
  24. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live un­to righ­teous­ness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
  25. For ye were as sheep go­ing astray; but are now re­turned un­to the Shep­herd and Bish­op of your souls.
Chapter Three
  1. LIKEWISE, ye wives, be in sub­jec­tion to your own hus­bands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may with­out the word be won by the con­ver­sa­tion of the wives;
  2. While they be­hold your chaste con­ver­sa­tion coupled with fear.
  3. Whose adorn­ing let it not be that out­ward adorning of plait­ing the hair, and of wear­ing of gold, or of put­ting on of apparel;  [⇒]
 
  1. But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not cor­rupt­ible, even the or­na­ment of a meek and qui­et spirit, which is in the sight of ⟨God⟩ of great price.
  2. For after this man­ner in the old time the holy wom­en al­so, who trust­ed in ⟨God⟩, adorned them­selves, be­ing in sub­jec­tion un­to their own husbands:
  3. Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, call­ing him lord: whose daugh­ters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
  4. Likewise, ye hus­bands, dwell with them ac­cord­ing to knowl­edge, giv­ing hon­our un­to the wife, as un­to the weak­er ves­sel, and as be­ing heirs to­geth­er of the grace of life; that your pray­ers be not hindered.
  5. Finally, be ye all of one mind, hav­ing com­pas­sion one of an­oth­er, love as breth­ren, be piti­ful, be courteous:
  6. Not rendering evil for evil, or rail­ing for rail­ing: but con­tra­ri­wise bless­ing; know­ing that ye are there­fore called, that ye should in­her­it a blessing.
  7. For He that will love life, and see good days, let him re­frain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
  8. Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and en­sue it.
  9. For the eyes of the ⟨Lord⟩ are over the righ­teous, and his ears are open un­to their pray­ers: but the face of the ⟨Lord⟩ is against them that do evil.
  10. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be fol­low­ers of that which is good?
  11. But, and if ye suffer for righ­teous­ness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their ter­ror, nei­ther be troubled;
  12. But sanctify the ⟨Lord⟩ ⟨God⟩ in your hearts: and be ready al­ways to give an answer to every man that ask­eth you a rea­son of the hope that is in you with meek­ness and fear:
  13. Having a good con­science; that, where­as they speak evil of you, as of evil­doers, they may be ashamed that false­ly ac­cuse your good con­ver­sa­tion in ⟨Christ⟩.
  14. For it is better, if the will of ⟨God⟩ be so, that ye suf­fer for well do­ing, than for evil doing.
  15. For ⟨Christ⟩ also hath once suf­fered for sins, the just for the un­just, that he might bring us to ⟨God⟩, be­ing put to death in the flesh, but quick­ened by the Spirit:
  16. By which also he went and preached un­to the spirits in prison;
  17. Which sometime were dis­o­be­di­ent, when once the long­suf­fer­ing of ⟨God⟩ wait­ed in the days of Noah, while the ark was a pre­par­ing, where­in few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
  18. The like figure where­unto even bap­tism doth al­so now save us (not the put­ting away of the filth of the flesh, but the an­swer of a good con­science to­ward ⟨God⟩,) by the res­ur­rec­tion of ⟨Jesus⟩ ⟨Christ⟩:
  19. Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of ⟨God⟩; an­gels and au­thor­i­ties and pow­ers be­ing made sub­ject unto him.
Chapter Four
  1. FORASMUCH then as ⟨Christ⟩ hath suf­fered for us in the flesh, arm your­selves like­wise with the same mind: for he that hath suf­fered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
  2. That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of ⟨God⟩.
  3. For the time past of our life may suf­fice us to have wrought the will of the Gen­tiles, when we walked in las­civ­i­ous­ness, lusts, ex­cess of wine, rev­el­lings, ban­quet­ings, and abom­in­able idolatries:
  4. Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same ex­cess of riot, speak­ing evil of you:
  5. Who shall give ac­count to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
  6. For for this cause was the gos­pel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged ac­cord­ing to men in the flesh, but live ac­cord­ing to ⟨God⟩ in the spirit.
  7. But the end of all things is at hand: be ye there­fore sober, and watch un­to prayer.
  8. And above all things have fer­vent charity among your­selves: for charity shall cover the mul­ti­tude of sins.
  9. Use hospitality one to an­oth­er with­out grudging.
  10. As every man hath re­ceived the gift, even so min­is­ter the same one to an­oth­er, as good stew­ards of the man­i­fold grace of ⟨God⟩.
  11. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of ⟨God⟩; if any man min­is­ter, let him do it as of the abil­ity which ⟨God⟩ giv­eth: that ⟨God⟩ in all things may be glo­ri­fied through ⟨Jesus⟩ ⟨Christ⟩, to whom be praise and do­min­ion for ever and ever. A-men′.
  12. Beloved, think it not strange con­cern­ing the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing hap­pened unto you:
  13. But rejoice, in­as­much as ye are par­tak­ers of ⟨Christ’s⟩ suf­fer­ings; that, when his glory shall be re­vealed, ye may be glad al­so with exceeding joy.
  14. If ye be reproached for the name of ⟨Christ⟩, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of ⟨God⟩ rest­eth up­on you: on their part he is evil spok­en of, but on your part he is glorified.
  15. But let none of you suf­fer as a mur­der­er, or as a thief, or as an evil­doer, or as a busy­body in other men’s matters.
  16. Yet if any man suf­fer as a Chris­tian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify ⟨God⟩ on this behalf.
  17. For the time is come that judg­ment must begin at the house of ⟨God⟩; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gos­pel of ⟨God⟩?
  18. And if the righ­teous scarce­ly be saved, where shall the un­god­ly and the sin­ner appear?
  19. Wherefore let them that suf­fer ac­cord­ing to the will of ⟨God⟩ com­mit the keep­ing of their souls to him in well do­ing, as un­to a faithful Creator.
Chapter Five
  1. THE elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a wit­ness of the suf­fer­ings of ⟨Christ⟩, and also a par­tak­er of the glory that shall be revealed:
  2. Feed the flock of ⟨God⟩ which is among you, tak­ing the over­sight there­of, not by con­straint, but will­ing­ly; (and) not for fil­thy lu­cre, but of a ready mind;
  3. Neither as being lords over ⟨God’s⟩ her­i­tage, but be­ing en­sam­ples to the flock.
  4. And when the chief Shepherd shall ap­pear, ye shall re­ceive a crown of glory that fad­eth not away.
  5. Likewise, ye younger, sub­mit your­selves un­to the el­der. Yea, all of you be sub­ject one to an­oth­er, and be clothed with hu­mil­ity: for ⟨God⟩ re­sist­eth the proud, and giv­eth grace to the humble.
  6. Humble your­selves there­fore un­der the migh­ty hand of ⟨God⟩, that he may exalt you in due time:
  7. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
  8. Be sober, be vig­i­lant; be­cause your ad­ver­sary the devil, as a roar­ing lion, walk­eth about, seek­ing whom he may devour:
  9. Whom resist sted­fast in the faith, know­ing that the same af­flic­tions are ac­com­plished in your breth­ren that are in the world.
  10. But the ⟨God⟩ of all grace, who hath called us un­to his eter­nal glory by ⟨Christ⟩ ⟨Jesus⟩, af­ter that ye have suf­fered a while, make you per­fect, stab­lish, streng­then, set­tle you.
  11. To him be glory and do­min­ion for ever and ever. A-men′.
  12. By Sil′-va-nus, a faith­ful broth­er un­to you, as I sup­pose, I have writ­ten brief­ly, ex­hort­ing, and tes­ti­fy­ing that this is the true grace of ⟨God⟩ where­in ye stand.
  13. The church that is at Bab­y­lon, elect­ed to­geth­er with you, sa­lut­eth you; and so doth Marcus my son.
  14. Greet ye one an­oth­er with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in ⟨Christ⟩ ⟨Jesus⟩. A-men′.
“Line upon line, precept upon precept”…
for knowledge shall cease and wisdom fail,
but understanding remains (if gained from the former).