1 Peter

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

1This letter is from Peter. Jesus Christ sent him out to teach, so he is called an apostle. He writes to God's chosen people who live far from home. They are spread out across Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

2Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

2God the Father knew you and chose you long ago. His Spirit set you apart to belong to him. He chose you so you would obey Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus was sprinkled on you to make you clean. I pray God gives you much kindness and peace.

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

3Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was very kind and gave us a brand new life. Now we have a hope that is alive. We have it because God raised Jesus from the dead.

4To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

4God is keeping a gift for you in heaven. It can never rot, get dirty, or fade away. It is saved there just for you.

5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

5God's power is guarding you, because you trust him. He is keeping you safe until he saves you completely. That will be shown to everyone at the very end.

6Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

6This makes you very glad. But for a little while you may feel sad. Many kinds of hard times come and test you.

NoteIn 1611, "temptations" meant hard times and troubles of any kind. It did not only mean being pulled toward doing wrong.

7That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

7These hard times show that your trust in God is real. Gold is tested in fire, but even gold wears out someday. Your trust is worth much more than gold. When Jesus Christ appears, you will be given praise and honor and glory.

8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

8You have never seen Jesus, but you love him. You cannot see him now, but you still trust him. You are full of a joy so big that words cannot tell it.

9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

9You are getting what your trust is for. God is saving you, your whole self.

10Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

10Prophets told about this saving long ago. A prophet is someone who told people what God said. They asked many questions and searched hard to understand. They spoke about the kindness God would one day give you.

11Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

11The Spirit of Christ was in those prophets. He told them ahead of time that Christ would suffer. He also said that great glory would come after that. The prophets tried to learn when this would happen and how.

12Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

12God showed them they were not doing this work for themselves. They were doing it for you. Now you have heard these things from people who told you the good news. The Holy Spirit was sent from heaven to help them speak. Even the angels want to look into these things.

13Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

13So get your mind ready to work, like tying up loose clothes. Think clearly and stay steady. Put all your hope in the kindness Jesus Christ will bring when he appears.

Note"Gird up the loins of your mind" is an old picture. People wore long robes and tied them up so they could run or work. It means get your mind ready for action.

14As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

14Be like children who obey. You used to want wrong things, because you did not know better. Do not live that way anymore.

15But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

15The God who called you is holy. That means he is pure and completely good. So be holy too, in everything you do.

NoteIn 1611, "conversation" meant a person's whole way of living, not just talking. The same word is used in verse 18.

16Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

16God's book says, "Be holy, because I am holy."

17And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

17You call God your Father. He judges each person by what that person does. He has no favorites and treats everyone the same. So live here with deep respect for him. You are like a visitor staying in a land that is not your home.

18Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

18You know that God paid to set you free. He did not pay with silver or gold, which wear out. He freed you from the empty way of living your family handed down.

19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

19He paid with the precious blood of Christ. Christ was like a lamb with no spot or flaw.

20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

20God knew and chose him before the world was made. Now, in these last times, Christ has been shown to the world for you.

21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

21Through Christ you trust God. God raised Christ from the dead and gave him glory. So your trust and your hope rest in God.

22Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

22You obeyed the truth, and that made your heart clean. Now you really do love others in God's family. So love each other deeply, with a pure heart.

23Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

23You have been born all over again. Not from a seed that dies, but from a seed that never dies. That seed is God's word, which lives and lasts forever.

24For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

24God's book says, "All people are like grass. Everything grand about them is like a wild flower. The grass dries up, and the flower falls off."

25But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

25"But the word of the Lord lasts forever." That word is the good news that was told to you.