Outline
I.
Greetings (1:1-2)
II.
Praise to God for His
Grace and Salvation (1:3-12)
B.
The Position of
Believers (2:4-12)
1. A spiritual house (2:4-8)
2. A chosen people (2:9-10)
3. Aliens and strangers (2:11-12)
1. Submission to rulers (2:13-17)
2. Submission to masters (2:18-20)
3. Christ's example of submission (2:21-25)
4. Submission of wives to husbands (3:1-6)
5. The corresponding duty of husbands (3:7)
1 Peter 1 NLT
1 This letter is from Peter, an apostle
of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as
foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and
Bithynia.
2 God the Father knew you and chose you
long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him
and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and
more grace and peace.
3 All praise to God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again,
because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great
expectation,
4 and we have a priceless
inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled,
beyond the reach of change and decay.
5 And through your faith, God is
protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to
be revealed on the last day for all to see.
6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful
joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.
7 These trials will show that your
faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though
your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains
strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor
on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
8 You love him even though you have
never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice
with a glorious, inexpressible joy.
9 The reward for trusting him will be
the salvation of your souls.
10 This salvation was something even the
prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious
salvation prepared for you.
11 They wondered what time or situation
the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance
about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.
12They were told that their messages were not
for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you
by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is
all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things
happen.
13 So prepare your minds for action and
exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will
come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.
14 So you must live as God’s obedient
children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own
desires. You didn’t know any better then.
15 But now you must be holy in
everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.
16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be
holy because I am holy.”
17And remember that the heavenly Father to
whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what
you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as
“temporary residents.”
18 For you know that God paid a ransom
to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was
not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.
19 It was the precious blood of Christ,
the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
20 God chose him as your ransom long
before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for
your sake.
21 Through Christ you have come to trust
in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ
from the dead and gave him great glory.
22 You were cleansed from your sins when
you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as
brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
23 For you have been born again, but not
to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it
comes from the eternal, living word of God.
24 As the Scriptures say, “People are
like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and
the flower fades.
25 But the word of the
Lord remains forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
1 Peter 2 NLT
1 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be
done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.
2 Like newborn babies, you must crave
pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.
Cry out for this nourishment,
3 now that you have had a taste of the
Lord’s kindness.
4 You are coming to Christ, who is the
living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was
chosen by God for great honor.
5 And you are living stones that God is
building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests.
Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that
please God.
6As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a
cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”
7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the
honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, “The stone that the
builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”
8 And, “He is the stone that makes
people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do
not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.
9 But you are not like that, for you
are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own
possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called
you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
10 “Once you had no identity as a
people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have
received God’s mercy.”
11 Dear friends, I warn you as
“temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that
wage war against your very souls.
12 Be careful to live properly among
your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they
will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he
judges the world.
13 For the Lord’s sake, submit to all
human authority—whether the king as head of state,
14 or the officials he has appointed.
For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who
do right.
15 It is God’s will that your honorable
lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against
you.
16 For you are free, yet you are God’s
slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.
17 Respect everyone, and love the family
of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.
18 You who are slaves must submit to
your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind
and reasonable, but even if they are cruel.
19 For God is pleased when, conscious of
his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment.
20 Of course, you get no credit for
being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing
good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.
21 For God called you to do good, even
if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and
you must follow in his steps.
22 He never sinned, nor ever deceived
anyone.
23 He did not retaliate when he was
insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands
of God, who always judges fairly.
24 He personally carried our sins in his
body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By
his wounds you are healed.
25 Once you were like
sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian
of your souls.
1 Peter 3 NLT
1 In the same way, you wives must
accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the
Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be
won over
2 by observing your pure and reverent
lives.
3 Don’t be concerned about the outward
beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes.
4 You should clothe yourselves instead
with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and
quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.
5 This is how the holy women of old
made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the
authority of their husbands.
6 For instance, Sarah obeyed her
husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do
what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.
7 In the same way, you husbands must
give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live
together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in
God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be
hindered.
