Bible Reading Plan – Day 348

₁From Peter, apostle of Jesus Christ —

To God's chosen people who live as refugees scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. ₂You were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father and were made a holy people by his Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be purified by his blood.

May grace and peace be yours in full measure.

₃Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope, ₄and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away. ₅They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God's power for the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time.

₆Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. ₇Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honour on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed. ₈You love him, although you have not seen him, and you believe in him, although you do not now see him. So you rejoice with a great and glorious joy which words cannot express, ₉because you are receiving the salvation of your souls, which is the purpose of your faith in him.

₁₀It was concerning this salvation that the prophets made careful search and investigation, and they prophesied about this gift which God would give you. ₁₁They tried to find out when the time would be and how it would come. This was the time to which Christ's Spirit in them was pointing, in predicting the sufferings that Christ would have to endure and the glory that would follow. ₁₂God revealed to these prophets that their work was not for their own benefit, but for yours, as they spoke about those things which you have now heard from the messengers who announced the Good News by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would like to understand.

₁₃So then, have your minds ready for action. Keep alert and set your hope completely on the blessing which will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ₁₄Be obedient to God, and do not allow your lives to be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant. ₁₅Instead, be holy in all that you do, just as God who called you is holy. ₁₆The scripture says, “Be holy because I am holy.”

₁₇You call him Father, when you pray to God, who judges all people by the same standard, according to what each one has done; so then, spend the rest of your lives here on earth in reverence for him. ₁₈For you know what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors. It was not something that can be destroyed, such as silver or gold; ₁₉it was the costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect or flaw. ₂₀He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake. ₂₁Through him you believe in God, who raised him from death and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.

₂₂Now that by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves and have come to have a sincere love for your fellow-believers, love one another earnestly with all your heart. ₂₃For through the living and eternal word of God you have been born again as the children of a parent who is immortal, not mortal. ₂₄As the scripture says:

₁Rid yourselves, then, of all evil; no more lying or hypocrisy or jealousy or insulting language. ₂Be like newborn babies, always thirsty for the pure spiritual milk, so that by drinking it you may grow up and be saved. ₃As the scripture says, “You have found out for yourselves how kind the Lord is.”

₄Come to the Lord, the living stone rejected by people as worthless but chosen by God as valuable. ₅Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. ₆For the scripture says:

₉But you are the chosen race, the King's priests, the holy nation, God's own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his own marvellous light. ₁₀At one time you were not God's people, but now you are his people; at one time you did not know God's mercy, but now you have received his mercy.

₁₁I appeal to you, my friends, as strangers and refugees in this world! Do not give in to bodily passions, which are always at war against the soul. ₁₂Your conduct among the heathen should be so good that when they accuse you of being evildoers, they will have to recognize your good deeds and so praise God on the Day of his coming.

₁₃For the sake of the Lord submit to every human authority: to the Emperor, who is the supreme authority, ₁₄and to the governors, who have been appointed by him to punish the evildoers and to praise those who do good. ₁₅For God wants you to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people by the good things you do. ₁₆Live as free people; do not, however, use your freedom to cover up any evil, but live as God's slaves. ₁₇Respect everyone, love your fellow-believers, honour God, and respect the Emperor.

₁₈You servants must submit to your masters and show them complete respect, not only to those who are kind and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. ₁₉God will bless you for this, if you endure the pain of undeserved suffering because you are conscious of his will. ₂₀For what credit is there if you endure the beatings you deserve for having done wrong? But if you endure suffering even when you have done right, God will bless you for it. ₂₁It was to this that God called you, for Christ himself suffered for you and left you an example, so that you would follow in his steps. ₂₂He committed no sin, and no one ever heard a lie come from his lips. ₂₃When he was insulted, he did not answer back with an insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge. ₂₄Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by his wounds that you have been healed. ₂₅You were like sheep that had lost their way, but now you have been brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your souls.

₁In the same way you wives must submit to your husbands, so that if any of them do not believe God's word, your conduct will win them over to believe. It will not be necessary for you to say a word, ₂because they will see how pure and reverent your conduct is. ₃You should not use outward aids to make yourselves beautiful, such as the way you do your hair, or the jewellery you put on, or the dresses you wear. ₄Instead, your beauty should consist of your true inner self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of the greatest value in God's sight. ₅For the devout women of the past who placed their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful by submitting to their husbands. ₆Sarah was like that; she obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are now her daughters if you do good and are not afraid of anything.

₇In the same way you husbands must live with your wives with the proper understanding that they are weaker than you. Treat them with respect, because they also will receive, together with you, God's gift of life. Do this so that nothing will interfere with your prayers.

₈To conclude: you must all have the same attitude and the same feelings; love one another as brothers and sisters, and be kind and humble with one another. ₉Do not pay back evil with evil or cursing with cursing; instead, pay back with a blessing, because a blessing is what God promised to give you when he called you. ₁₀As the scripture says:

₁₃Who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? ₁₄But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, how happy you are! Do not be afraid of anyone, and do not worry. ₁₅But have reverence for Christ in your hearts, and honour him as Lord. Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you, ₁₆but do it with gentleness and respect. Keep your conscience clear, so that when you are insulted, those who speak evil of your good conduct as followers of Christ will be ashamed of what they say. ₁₇For it is better to suffer for doing good, if this should be God's will, than for doing evil. ₁₈For Christ died for sins once and for all, a good man on behalf of sinners, in order to lead you to God. He was put to death physically, but made alive spiritually, ₁₉and in his spiritual existence he went and preached to the imprisoned spirits. ₂₀These were the spirits of those who had not obeyed God when he waited patiently during the days that Noah was building his boat. The few people in the boat — eight in all — were saved by the water, ₂₁which was a symbol pointing to baptism, which now saves you. It is not the washing away of bodily dirt, but the promise made to God from a good conscience. It saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ₂₂who has gone to heaven and is at the right-hand side of God, ruling over all angels and heavenly authorities and powers.

₁Since Christ suffered physically, you too must strengthen yourselves with the same way of thinking that he had; because whoever suffers physically is no longer involved with sin. ₂From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God's will and not by human desires. ₃You have spent enough time in the past doing what the heathen like to do. Your lives were spent in indecency, lust, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and the disgusting worship of idols. ₄And now the heathen are surprised when you do not join them in the same wild and reckless living, and so they insult you. ₅But they will have to give an account of themselves to God, who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ₆That is why the Good News was preached also to the dead, to those who had been judged in their physical existence as everyone is judged; it was preached to them so that in their spiritual existence they may live as God lives.

₇The end of all things is near. You must be self-controlled and alert, to be able to pray. ₈Above everything, love one another earnestly, because love covers over many sins. ₉Open your homes to each other without complaining. ₁₀Each one, as a good manager of God's different gifts, must use for the good of others the special gift he has received from God. ₁₁Whoever preaches must preach God's messages; whoever serves must serve with the strength that God gives, so that in all things praise may be given to God through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

₁₂My dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful test you are suffering, as though something unusual were happening to you. ₁₃Rather be glad that you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may be full of joy when his glory is revealed. ₁₄Happy are you if you are insulted because you are Christ's followers; this means that the glorious Spirit, the Spirit of God, is resting on you. ₁₅If any of you suffer, it must not be because you are a murderer or a thief or a criminal or a meddler in other people's affairs. ₁₆However, if you suffer because you are a Christian, don't be ashamed of it, but thank God that you bear Christ's name.

₁₇The time has come for judgement to begin, and God's own people are the first to be judged. If it starts with us, how will it end with those who do not believe the Good News from God? ₁₈As the scripture says: