1 Peter 2
1 So put away all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and every kind of slander.
2 Like newborn babies, long for pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow toward salvation.
3 If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
4 Come to him, the living stone, rejected by people but chosen and precious to God.
5 You too, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 For it says in Scripture: “Look, I am laying a chosen and precious cornerstone in Zion, and the one who believes in it will never be put to shame.”
7 So, for you who believe, it is an honor; but for those who do not believe, “the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
8 It is also “a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the word; they were also appointed to this.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired as his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and strangers, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against the soul.
12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles good, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good works and glorify God on the day of visitation.
13 For the Lord's sake, submit to every human institution, whether to the king as supreme,
14 or to governors as those sent by him to punish evildoers and praise those who do good.
15 For this is God's will: that by doing good you silence the ignorance of foolish people.
16 Live as free people, not using your freedom as a cover for evil, but as servants of God.
17 Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.
18 Household slaves, submit to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
19 For it is a gracious thing when someone, mindful of God, endures suffering while suffering unjustly.
20 What credit is there if you sin, are beaten, and endure it? But if you do good, suffer, and endure it, this is gracious in God's sight.
21 You were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his footsteps.
22 He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.
23 When he was insulted, he did not return insults; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed.
25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
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