1 Peter 2

So get rid of every kind of meanness, every kind of trickery, pretending to be what you are not, jealousy, and all speaking evil about people.

1Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

2Like newborn babies, hunger for the pure milk of God's word, so that by it you may grow up,

2As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

Note"Sincere" in 1611 English meant pure or unadulterated, not honest or heartfelt; the picture is milk with nothing watered into it. The Greek adjective behind "of the word" is unusual and has been read two ways: milk belonging to the word or message, or milk that is spiritual rather than literal. The rendering takes the first.

3since you have already tasted that the Lord is good.

3If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

NoteThe line quotes Psalm 34:8, "O taste and see that the LORD is good." The Greek word for "gracious" here means good or kind in an everyday sense, the way food or a person is good.

4Come to him. He is the living stone. People rejected him, but God chose him, and to God he is precious.

4To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

Note"Disallowed" is an old legal word for rejected or refused; the image is of builders inspecting a stone and turning it down as unfit. Peter is working with a set of Old Testament passages about stones, which he goes on to quote in the next few verses.

5You yourselves, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house. You are a holy group of priests, offering spiritual sacrifices that God accepts because of Jesus Christ.

5Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Note"Lively" in 1611 English simply meant living, not energetic or cheerful. A priesthood was a body of men set apart to bring offerings to God on behalf of everyone else; Peter applies that role to the whole group of readers, and the sacrifices they bring are not animals but something he calls spiritual.

6That is why Scripture says: "Look, I am laying in Zion a cornerstone, chosen and precious. Whoever trusts in him will never be put to shame."

6Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

Note"Sion" is the King James spelling of Zion, the hill in Jerusalem, standing for the city itself. A cornerstone was the foundation stone set at the angle of a building, cut true so that the lines of the whole structure were measured from it; a bad one threw everything out. "Confounded" here means publicly shamed or disgraced, not confused. The quotation is Isaiah 28:16.

7So to you who trust him, he is precious. But to those who refuse to believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the most important stone of all,"

7Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

Note"The head of the corner" is the stone at the corner, the one the whole building is aligned by. The quotation is Psalm 118:22. The Greek of the first half of the verse is compressed and can be read either as "to you who believe, he is precious" or as "to you who believe belongs the honor"; translations differ.

8and, "a stone that makes people trip, a rock that makes them fall." They trip because they refuse to obey the message, and this is what they were appointed to.

8And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

NoteThe quotation is Isaiah 8:14. "Offence" here does not mean hurt feelings; the Greek word is used for the trigger of a trap or anything that trips a walker up. The last clause, "whereunto also they were appointed," is grammatically ambiguous in Greek about what exactly they were appointed to, the stumbling or the disobedience, and the rendering leaves it as open as the original.

9But you are a chosen people, a royal group of priests, a holy nation, a people who belong to God. You are his so that you can announce how good he is. He called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

9But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Note"Generation" in 1611 English could mean a race or a people, not only an age group. "Peculiar" then meant belonging to one owner in particular, as a private possession does; it did not mean odd. The whole string of titles is drawn from Exodus 19:5-6, where these words were spoken to Israel at Sinai. "Shew forth" is simply show forth, announce.

10Once you were not a people at all, but now you are God's people. Once you had not been shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy.

10Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

NoteThis picks up the language of Hosea 1-2, where the prophet's children were named Not-My-People and Not-Pitied, and those names were later reversed.

11Dear friends, I urge you, since you live here as foreigners far from home, to stay away from the cravings of your body, which fight against your soul.

11Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Note"Strangers and pilgrims" translates two words for people living somewhere that is not their home: a resident foreigner and a temporary visitor. A pilgrim in this sense is a person away from home, not someone on a religious journey. "Fleshly" refers to human nature and its appetites, which in this letter is broader than sexual desire.

12Live good lives among the people who are not Jewish. Then, even though they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see the good things you do and give glory to God on the day he comes to us.

12Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Note"Conversation" in 1611 English meant the whole way a person lived and behaved, not talking. "Honest" here carries its older sense of honorable or fitting to look at. "Gentiles" means non-Jews; Peter is writing to scattered believers and uses Israel's word for outsiders. "The day of visitation" is an Old Testament phrase for a time when God comes to a people, whether to judge or to rescue, and which is meant here is debated.

13For the Lord's sake, accept the authority of every human institution, whether it is the king, who holds the highest position,

13Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;

Note"Ordinance of man" translates a phrase meaning roughly every human institution or arrangement, the offices and structures people set up. "As supreme" describes the king's rank as the highest human authority; for these readers the king would be the Roman emperor.

14or governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.

14Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

15God wants this. He wants you to do good and, by doing it, to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.

15For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

16Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover for doing evil. Live as God's servants.

16As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

Note"Cloke" is the old spelling of cloak, used here in its figurative sense: something thrown over a thing to hide it. "Maliciousness" means wickedness in general, not only spite.

17Show respect to everyone. Love the family of believers. Have reverence for God. Honor the king.

17Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

Note"The brotherhood" is a collective noun for the whole body of fellow believers, the way one might say the household. "Fear God" uses a word that ranges from dread to awed reverence; the same root appears in verse 18 for the respect owed to masters.

18Household servants, accept the authority of your masters with full respect. Do this not only for masters who are good and kind, but also for those who are harsh.

18Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

NoteThe Greek word here is not the general word for slave but one meaning household servant, someone owned by or bound to a family and working inside the home. This was an ordinary feature of Roman society, and such servants had no legal recourse against a cruel owner. "Froward" is an archaic word for crooked, perverse or unreasonable; it is the opposite of straightforward.

19It deserves praise when someone bears up under pain that is unfair, because that person is thinking of God.

19For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

Note"Thankworthy" translates a word usually rendered grace or favor, used here in the sense of something that earns credit or wins approval. "Conscience toward God" is ambiguous in the Greek: it can mean awareness of God, or conscience held before God.

20If you are beaten for doing wrong and you take it patiently, what credit is that? But if you do right and suffer for it, and you take it patiently, God is pleased with that.

20For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

Note"Buffeted" means struck with the fists, beaten. "What glory is it" means what credit or reputation does that earn you.

21This is exactly what you were called to, because Christ also suffered for us. He left you an example, so that you would walk the same path he walked.

21For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

22He never sinned, and no lie was ever found in his mouth.

22Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

NoteThe verse quotes Isaiah 53:9. "Guile" is deceit or cunning, the same word used in verse 1.

23When people insulted him, he did not insult them back. When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he handed himself over to the One who judges fairly.

23Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

Note"Reviled" means abused with words, insulted. The Greek of the last clause does not say what was handed over; it may be himself, or his cause, or those abusing him, and translations supply different objects.

24He himself carried our sins in his own body on the cross, so that we might be finished with sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you were healed.

24Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Note"The tree" translates a Greek word for wood or a wooden object, used in early Christian writing for the cross. It carries an echo of Deuteronomy 21:23, where a body hung on a tree is under a curse. "Bare" is the old past tense of bear, carried. "Stripes" are the marks left on the skin by a whip; the phrase quotes Isaiah 53:5.

25You were like sheep wandering away, but now you have come back to the Shepherd who watches over your souls.

25For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Note"Bishop" here is not a church office in the later sense. The Greek word means overseer, a person responsible for watching over others, and it pairs naturally with the shepherd image beside it. The first half of the verse echoes Isaiah 53:6.