1 Peter 2:1-14 ▼

1 So put aside every trace of malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander and hateful speech;

2 like newborn babies [you should] long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may be nurtured and grow in respect to salvation [its ultimate fulfillment],

3 if in fact you have [already] tasted the goodness and gracious kindness of the Lord.

4 Come to Him [the risen Lord] as to a living Stone which men rejected and threw away, but which is choice and precious in the sight of God.

5 You [believers], like living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house for a holy and dedicated priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.

6 For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I AM LAYING IN ZION A CHOSEN STONE, A PRECIOUS (honored) CORNERSTONE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM [whoever adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] WILL NEVER BE DISAPPOINTED [in his expectations].”

7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe [in Him as God’s only Son—the Source of salvation]; but for those who disbelieve, “THE [very] STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE,”

8 and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they disobey the word [of God], and to this they [who reject Him as Savior] were also appointed.

9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A CONSECRATED NATION, A [special] PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

10 Once you were NOT A PEOPLE [at all], but now you are GOD’S PEOPLE; once you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges [those dishonorable desires] that wage war against the soul.

12 Keep your behavior excellent among the [unsaved] Gentiles [conduct yourself honorably, with graciousness and integrity], so that for whatever reason they may slander you as evildoers, yet by observing your good deeds they may [instead come to] glorify God in the day of visitation [when He looks upon them with mercy].

13 Submit yourselves to [the authority of] every human institution for the sake of the Lord [to honor His name], whether it is to a king as one in a position of power,

14 or to governors as sent by him to bring punishment to those who do wrong, and to praise and encourage those who do right.