BWE - I Peter

Chapter 1

1:1  I am Peter. I am an apostle of Jesus Christ. I send this letter to God’s chosen people. You are like people on a journey. You live in the countries of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. But you do not belong there.

1:2  God the Father chose you as he planned to do long ago. You were made holy by the Spirit. You were chosen to obey Jesus Christ and to be made clean by the blood of his death. May you have much blessing and peace.

1:3  Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He was very kind to us, and made us his children. So we have a new hope. This hope is a living hope because Jesus Christ was raised from death.

1:4  Because we are God’s children, one day we shall receive special blessings. They cannot be spoiled in any way, and they will last for ever. They are kept safe in heaven for you.

1:5  You are saved by God’s power because you believe. You will then be fully saved. The way is ready and you will see it when the end of time comes.

1:6  This makes you very glad, even though now maybe you are sad because you have troubles of many kinds. They are only for a short time.

1:7  To believe is worth more than to have gold. Gold can spoil, but it is tested by fire to show that it is good. So troubles test you to prove that you believe. Then, because you really believe, you will be praised and made great and have honour when Jesus Christ comes again.

1:8  You love him even though you have not seen him. You trust him even though you do not see him. And so you are very happy. No words can tell how happy you are. Your joy is very great.

1:9  God will reward you because you have believed. You will then be fully saved.

1:10  The prophets of God long ago told about this way of being saved. They tried to find out about it and asked much about it. They spoke words from God telling about the blessing God would give you.

1:11  The Spirit of Christ in them showed them that Christ would have troubles and after that he would be great. They tried to find out when these things would happen or how things would be when they did happen.

1:12  The Spirit showed them that they told these things not for themselves, but for you. And now the men who told you the good news have told you these same things. They spoke by the power of the Holy Spirit who was sent from heaven. Even the angels wanted very much to know about these things.

1:13  So think clearly. Keep awake. When Jesus Christ comes, he will bring you blessing. Set all your hope on that.

1:14  Be children who obey. Do not be like what you were before you knew Christ. Then you did anything you wanted to do.

1:15  But be holy in all the things you do. Be holy because the one who has called you is holy.

1:16  God says in the holy writings, ‘You must be holy, because I am holy.’

1:17  You call God your Father. He does not think one man is better than another. He judges everyone by what he has done. So then you must fear him as you live your life here on earth.

1:18  You know this. You lived the way your fathers taught you to live, and it was not a good way to live. You were bought and set free from that way of life. But you were not bought with silver or gold money, which can spoil.

1:19  You were bought with blood that is worth much. It is like the blood of a sheep that is perfect with nothing wrong in its body. You were bought with the blood of Christ.

1:20  Before the world was made God chose Christ to do it, and Christ came at the end of time for your sake.

1:21  It is through Christ that you believe in God. God raised Christ from death and made him great. And that is why you are able to believe and hope in God.

1:22  You have obeyed what is true and that has made your hearts clean. And now you really love your Christian brothers. So with your clean hearts, love each other very much.

1:23  You have been made God’s children. He did not make you his children by something that dies, but by something that cannot die. That is the word of God.

1:24  The holy writings say, ‘People may be great. But they are like a flower on the grass. The grass dies and the flower falls off.

1:25  But the word of the Lord cannot die!’ And this word is the good news which has been told to you.

Chapter 2

2:1  So stop all the wrong things you do. Stop all the ways you cheat people. Stop fooling people. Stop being jealous. Stop saying wrong things about people.

2:2  Babies who have just been born want milk very much. In the same way, you should want God’s word. That is like good milk. It will make you grow up so that you will then be fully saved.

2:3  You should want God’s word if you have already tasted and know that the Lord is good.

2:4  Come to the Lord Jesus. He is like a living stone. People did not want to use it. But God chose it. It was worth very much to him.

2:5  You also are like living stones. You are being built into a temple, a holy place for God. You are to be holy priests there. You are to give sacrifices to God from your heart. God will accept them because of Jesus Christ.

2:6  The holy writings say, ‘Listen, I am placing a stone in Zion. It is the main stone of the house. I have chosen it and it is worth very much. Anyone who believes in him will not be ashamed.’

2:7  He is worth very much to you who believe in him. But some people do not believe in him. To them he is, ‘the stone that the men who were building would not use. But now it is the chief stone at the corner.’

2:8  And to them he is also, ‘a stone on which people will hit their feet, and a rock that will make them fall down.’ They hit their feet on it, because they do not obey the word. It was planned that this would happen to them!

2:9  But you are a chosen people. You are priests to your king. You are a holy nation. You are God’s very own people. All this is so that you will tell how good he is. He called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

2:10  At one time you were not God’s people. But now you are God’s people. At one time you did not know God’s kindness. Now you do.

2:11  Dear brothers, you are people who do not belong to this world. You are like visitors who are on a journey. I beg you, do not do the things your body wants to do. Those things fight against your soul.

2:12  Live good lives among the people who do not believe. They may talk about you as if you do wrong things. But when they see the good things you do, they will praise God on the day he comes to help you.

2:13  Obey every officer of the government to please the Lord. Obey the king because he is over all.

2:14  Obey the rulers because they are sent by him. They are sent to punish those who do wrong things and to praise those who do good things.

2:15  That is what God wants you to do. He wants you to do good things. By doing good things, you will stop foolish people from saying wrong things about you. They say wrong things about you because they do not know you.

2:16  You are free people. But do not think, ‘I am free so I can do wrong things.’ You are God’s servants.

2:17  Respect all men. Love your Christian brothers. Fear God. Respect the king.

2:18  Servants, respect and obey your masters in all things. Obey not only those who are good to you. But also obey those who are hard on you.

2:19  Maybe a person is punished when he has done nothing wrong. If he takes these troubles to please God, he does a very good thing.

2:20  What praise will you have if you take a beating when you have done something wrong? But when you do right and are punished, if you take it quietly, God is pleased.

2:21  You have been called to do this because Christ also was punished for you. He showed you what you should do. So do as he did.

2:22  He did no wrong. And he told no lie.

2:23  When people said wrong things to him, he did not say wrong things to them. When he was punished, he did not say, ‘I will do something to you!’ But he trusted in God who judges what is right.

2:24  Christ in his own body took the wrong things we have done to the cross. He did this so that we would stop our bad ways and live right. Because he was punished, you were healed.

2:25  Like lost sheep, you were going away from God. But now you have come back to the one who takes care of you and helps you.

Chapter 3

3:1  Wives, respect and obey your husbands in the same way. Then the husbands who do not obey the word of God will want to know God. They will want to know God because their wives live good lives, even though they say nothing about God.

3:2  They will see that you live holy lives and respect your husbands.

3:3  You should not be fine on the outside only. Some women make their hair nice. They wear gold things. They have fine clothes.

3:4  But you must be fine in your heart. Have a heart that is gentle and quiet. That will not wear out. And God thinks it is worth very much.

3:5  There were holy women long ago who trusted in God. They made themselves nice in this way. They obeyed their husbands.

3:6  Sarah obeyed Abraham. She called him her master. You are her children if you do what is right and are not afraid of trouble.

3:7  Husbands, also live with your wife the way you know is right. Respect her because she is a woman. She is not as strong as a man. Also respect her because God has given her, as well as you, the blessing of life. In this way, you will not stop God from doing what you ask him to do.

3:8  Here is one thing more. You must all agree. You must care when others have trouble. You must love your Christian brothers. You must be kind. You must not be proud.

3:9  You must not do wrong things to those who do wrong things to you. You must not say wrong things to those who say wrong things to you. But ask God to bless those people. This is what you have been called to do. Then God will bless you.

3:10  The holy writings say, ‘A man who wants to live and have good days must not say wrong things. He must not say anything that is not true.

3:11  He must turn away from anything wrong and do what is good. He must try hard to find peace, and keep on looking for it.

3:12  The Lord watches over those who do good. He listens when they talk to him. But the Lord is against those who do wrong things.’

3:13  Who will do something bad to you if you want to do what is good?

3:14  But even if people trouble you because you do right, God will bless you. Do not be afraid of them. And do not be troubled.

3:15  Worship Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you about the hope you have. But be gentle and respect him.

3:16  Keep your hearts clean. Then when people say wrong things about you, they will be ashamed because they have talked wrongly about your good Christian life.

3:17  It is better to have trouble for doing right, if God allows it, than to have trouble for doing wrong.

3:18  For Christ died that once because of our wrong ways. He was good and he died for those who were bad. He did this to bring us to God. His body died, but his spirit had new life.

3:19  His spirit went and gave his message to people’s spirits who were in prison.

3:20  In the days long ago, they did not obey God. God waited for them to do so while Noah was building the big house on the boat. A few people, only eight, were saved by going through the water.

3:21  The water of baptism is like that. It saves you. It does not save you because it washes dirt from your bodies. But it saves you because you bring yourselves to God with a clean heart. It saves you because Jesus Christ has been raised from death.

3:22  He has gone up into heaven. He is now at the right side of God. Angels, rulers, and governments obey him.

Chapter 4

4:1  Christ suffered in his body. You also must be ready to have the same trouble happen to you. When a man has suffered in his body, he has stopped doing wrong things.

4:2  For the rest of his life on earth he will not do what people want to do. He will do what God wants him to do.

4:3  In the time past you did the same things as people who do not believe God. Let that be enough. You did things you should be ashamed of. You did what you wanted to do. You got drunk. You got into fights. You took part in noisy feasting with dancing. You did wrong by worshipping idols.

4:4  Those people are surprised now that you do not do the same wrong things they do. And they say wrong things about you.

4:5  They will have to explain what they are doing. They will have to talk to God about what they have done. He is ready to judge living people and dead people.

4:6  That is why the good news was also told to those who are now dead. They will be judged like men who are alive. This was done so that they could live like God in the spirit.

4:7  It is almost the time when the world will end. So be wise and watch and talk to God.

4:8  Here is something that matters very much. You must love each other very much. Love will cover up many wrong things.

4:9  Be glad to take other Christians into your house and care for them. And do not grumble about it.

4:10  God has given each person a gift. That gift is something he can do. Each one should use his gift to help the others. In that way you all make good use of the many blessings God has given you.

4:11  Has God blessed you by knowing how to talk? Then you should talk the words of God. Are you a helper? Then you should help with the strength God has given you. In all that you do, you should show that God is great through Jesus Christ. He has praise and power for ever. Yes, he has!

4:12  My dear brothers, do not be surprised by the hard trouble like fire that comes to test you. Do not think some new thing is happening to you.

4:13  Be glad when you suffer as Christ did. Then you will also be very glad when he comes and you see how great he is.

4:14  Do men say wrong things about you because you are a Christian? Then you are blessed because the wonderful Spirit, the Spirit of God, is with you.

4:15  Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not do wrong. Do not try to boss other people. None of you should suffer because you have done these things.

4:16  But if a man suffers because he is a Christian, he should not be ashamed of it. He should praise God that he is a Christian.

4:17  The time has come for God to judge people. God’s people will be judged first. If we are judged first, what will happen at the end to those who do not obey the good news of God?

4:18  The holy writings say, ‘If it is hard for a good person to be saved, what will happen to a person who is against God and lives a bad life?’

4:19  If God allows you to suffer, trust him. He made you and you can trust him. But keep on doing good things.

Chapter 5

5:1  So I am talking to the leaders among you. I am also a leader. I saw the sufferings of Christ. And I will have some part of his greatness when he comes again.

5:2  Take good care of God’s people. They have been given to you to care for. Do this, not because you must do it, but because you want to please God. Do it not for the money that you get for doing it, but because you are glad to do it.

5:3  Do not be like a boss over the people you care for, telling them how to live. But show them how to live by the way you live.

5:4  Christ the big Shepherd who takes care of all people is coming. When he comes, he will give you a crown to show that you are great. You will have it for ever.

5:5  Also, you who are younger men, obey your leaders. I say to all of you, do not be proud. Do not think you are better than the others. The holy writings say, ‘God fights against proud people, but he helps those who are not proud.’

5:6  You are under God’s power. Do not be proud, so that at the right time he may put you into a higher place.

5:7  Turn all your troubles over to him, because he cares for you and is watching over you.

5:8  Keep awake! Watch! Your enemy the devil is walking around like a growling lion. He is looking for someone to catch.

5:9  Fight against the devil. Be strong because you believe. Remember that your brothers all over the world suffer the same kind of trouble as you.

5:10  God gives all blessings. He has called you through Christ to be great with him for ever. When you have suffered for a short time, he will make you all right. He will make you strong and steady.

5:11  He has power for ever. Yes, he has!

5:12  Silas has written this short letter for me. I believe he is a brother who can be trusted. I have written to help you and tell you the true way to have God’s blessing. Stand firm in that way!

5:13  The church people in the city of Babylon greet you. God has also chosen them. My son Mark also greets you.

5:14  Greet one another with a kiss of love. May all of you who are Christians have peace.