Montgomery - I Peter

Chapter 1

1:1  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who are sojourners of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Roman Asia, and Bithynia,

1:2  according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; Grace and peace be multiplied to you.

1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose great mercy we have been born anew into a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead;

1:4  and into an inheritance imperishable and undefiled and fadeless, which has been kept in heaven for you

1:5  who, through faith, are continuously guarded by the power of God for a salvation, ready to be revealed in the last days.

1:6  Exult in this, though now for a brief moment, if need be, you have suffered many hardships.

1:7  These are in order that the test of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable and yet is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor, at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1:8  Him you love, though you have never seen him; in him you ever believe, though even now you see him not, and you are rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory,

1:9  as you continually receive the reward of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

1:10  Concerning this salvation the Prophets who prophesied regarding the grace intended for you, diligently sought and searched.

1:11  They were searching to know to what time, or to what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them kept pointing, when he ever testified beforehand concerning the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

1:12  It was revealed to them that it was not for themselves, but for you, that they were ministering the truths which have now been announced to you, by those who preached the gospel to you, through the help of the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven - truths into which angels long to look.

1:13  So then brace up your minds, be steady in spirit, and fix your hope firmly in the grace that is coming to you, at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1:14  Like obedient children, do not fashion yourselves according to the former passions of your days of ignorance,

1:15  but become yourselves holy in your whole manner of living, as He who has called you is holy,

1:16  as the Scripture says, You shall be holy, because I am holy.

1:17  And since you call upon him as Father, who impartially judges each one according to his deeds, pass the time of your sojourning here in reverence.

1:18  For you well know that not with perishable things, with silver or gold, were you redeemed from the emptiness of your manner of life, received by tradition from your ancestors;

1:19  but with precious blood, like that of a lamb without spot or blemish, even the blood of Christ.

1:20  He was indeed foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the times for your sake.

1:21  Through him you believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope are now in God.

1:22  Now that by obedience to the truth you have purified your lives for a brotherly love without hypocrisy, you must love one another from your hearts, fervently.

1:23  For you have been born anew, not of perishable, but of imperishable seed, by the living, lasting word of God.

1:24  For, All flesh is grass And all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass fades, The flower falls,

1:25  But the word of the Lord abides forever. And this is the word of the gospel which has been told to you.

Chapter 2

2:1  Therefore put away all malice, all deceit, insincerity, jealousy, and slander of every sort.

2:2  Like new-born babes long for the pure spiritual milk to make you grow up into salvation;

2:3  since you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

2:4  Come to him then, that living Stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, and precious.

2:5  And yourselves like living stones be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God, through Christ Jesus.

2:6  For, as Scripture says. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him shall never be put to shame.

2:7  For you, then, that believe, is the preciousness; but for those who do not believe, A stone which the builders rejected, The same has become the head stone of the corner,

2:8  and, A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. They stumble over it because they are disobeying God’s word, and to this they were also appointed.

2:9  But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people, that you may show forth the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light -

2:10  you who once were not a people, but now are the people of God; who were once without mercy, but now you have found mercy.

2:11  I beseech you, beloved, as pilgrims and exiles, to abstain from passions of the flesh that war upon your souls.

2:12  Let your manner of life before the Gentiles be honest; so that, although they are now slandering you as evil-doers, they may, by beholding your noble conduct, come to glorify God, in the day of visitation.

2:13  Submit yourselves, for the Lord’s sake, to every human authority; whether it be to the Emperor as supreme ruler,

2:14  or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and for the encouragement of well-doers.

2:15  For it is the will of God that by well-doing you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.

2:16  Live like free men; and yet do not make your freedom a cloak for misconduct, but be the slaves of God.

2:17  Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Reverence God. Honor the Emperor.

2:18  Household slaves, submit yourselves to your masters in all reverence; not only to the kind and gentle, but also to the unreasonable.

2:19  For it is an acceptable thing to God, if from a sense of duty to him, a man endures a wrong, even suffering unjustly.

2:20  For what credit is it if, when you are struck for a fault, you take it patiently? But if when you are doing well and suffer for it, you always take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

2:21  For this is your calling; because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his footsteps;

2:22  He committed no sin, Neither was guile found in his mouth.

2:23  He was reviled, and reviled not back. When he suffered he never threatened but always committed his cause to the One who judges rightly.

2:24  He bore our sins in his own body upon the tree, in order that we might become dead to sins, and be alive unto righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

2:25  For you were straying like lost sheep, but you are now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

Chapter 3

3:1  In the same way you wives must be submissive to your own husbands; so that if some of them will not believe the message, they may apart from the message be won over by the behavior of their wives,

3:2  when they see how pure and reverent you are.

3:3  Your adornment ought not to be the outward adornment of plaited hair and golden jewels and the wearing of beautiful dresses;

3:4  but rather that hidden personality of the heart, the imperishable ornament of a quiet and gentle spirit, which in the sight of God is indeed precious.

3:5  For in this way in the olden time the holy women also, who put their trust in God, used to adorn themselves. They were ever in submission to their own husbands;

3:6  thus, for example, Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are daughters of Sarah, if you do what is right, and permit nothing to make you afraid.

3:7  In the same way you husbands live with your wives, according to knowledge, honoring your wife as of the weaker sex, yet as an heir with yourself of the grace of life; so that your prayers may not be hindered.

3:8  Finally, you should all be harmonious, sympathetic, loving as brothers, tender-hearted, humble-minded;

3:9  not paying back evil for evil or abuse for abuse, but on the contrary giving a blessing. Because for this you have been called - to inherit a blessing.

3:10  He who would love life and enjoy happy days, Let him keep his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking guile;

3:11  Let him turn from evil and do good, Let him seek peace, and pursue it.

3:12  For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears are open to their cry; But the face of the Lord is set against evil-doers.

3:13  Yet who will harm you if you become zealous for the good?

3:14  But even if you should suffer in behalf of righteousness, you are happy. Do not be afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.

3:15  But consecrate Christ in your hearts, as Lord. Be always in readiness to make and answer to any one who asks you a reason for the hope that is within you, yet with gentleness and reverence.

3:16  See that you have a clear conscience, so that, although they speak of you as evil-doers, these libelers of your good Christian lives may be ashamed.

3:17  For it is better that you suffer for doing right, if such be God’s will, than for doing wrong;

3:18  because Christ also once for all suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but make alive in spirit.

3:19  (It was in spirit that he went and preached the Word to the spirits who were in prison,

3:20  who in old times had been disobedient, when God’s longsuffering was waiting in the days of Noah, while an ark was building, in which a few persons - eight in number - were saved by water.)

3:21  Baptism, the counterpart of that, now saves you (not the washing off of the filth of the flesh, but the prayer for a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

3:22  He is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; to Him angels and authorities and powers have been made subject.

Chapter 4

4:1  Since, then, Christ suffered in the flesh, do you also ever arm yourselves with the same mind (because he who has suffered in the flesh has done with sin),

4:2  so that in future you may not spend your life in the flesh according to men’s desires, but in the will of God.

4:3  For the time past of life may suffice us to have worked the will of the Gentiles, when we spent our life in lasciviousness, lusts, hard drinking, revelry, banqueting, and abominable idol worship.

4:4  They are astonished at this, that you do not run into the same excesses of profligacy as they do; and they speak evil of you.

4:5  But they must render account to Him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.

4:6  The gospel was preached for this cause to those who were dead also, that they might be judged according to men in flesh, but live according to God in spirit.

4:7  But the end of all things is close at hand; so be sober, watch and pray.

4:8  Above everything have fervent love to one another; for love veils a multitude of sins.

4:9  Be hospitable to one another, without grudging.

4:10  Whatever the gifts which each has received, use them for one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

4:11  If any one preaches, let him always preach as one who utters God’s truth; if any one serves another, let it be with the strength which God supplies; so that in every way God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen.

4:12  Do not think it strange, beloved, that a fiery ordeal has come to test you, as though some surprising thing had befallen you.

4:13  But be glad in the degree in which you share in the sufferings of Christ; so that when his glory shall be revealed, you too may be glad with triumphant gladness.

4:14  If you are being reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the spirit of glory and of God is resting upon you.

4:15  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or as a spy upon other people’s business.

4:16  But if any man is suffering as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him ever glorify God in this Name.

4:17  It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it first begin with us, what shall be the end of those who are disobedient to the gospel?

4:18  If the righteous man is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

4:19  So let those who are suffering according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Chapter 5

5:1  Now to you who are presbyters I make this appeal; for I am myself a presbyter, and was a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory about to be revealed.

5:2  Be shepherds to your flock of God; take charge of them willingly, and not through compulsion; not for filthy lucre, but with a willing mind;

5:3  not by way of lording it over your heritage, but by becoming examples to the flock.

5:4  Then, when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, you too will receive the fadeless wreath of glory.

5:5  You younger men must submit to the presbyters; and all of you must put on the garment of humility and serve one another, for God resists the haughty, But gives grace to the humble.

5:6  So humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand, so that he may exalt you in due time.

5:7  Cast all your care upon him, for he ever cares for you.

5:8  Be temperate, be vigilant; because your enemy, the devil, is prowling about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

5:9  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, knowing well that the same afflictions are being accomplished in your brothers that are in the world.

5:10  But the God of all grace, who has called us by Christ Jesus to share his eternal glory, will, after you have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

5:11  His is the dominion forever and ever; Amen.

5:12  By Sylvanus, a faithful brother of yours, as I suppose, I have written you briefly, to comfort you, and to testify that this is the true grace of God. In this stand fast.

5:13  Your sister church in Babylon, elect with you, sends you salutations, and so does Marcus, my son.

5:14  Salute one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ Jesus.