1 Peter 2
2
1 Therefore, put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the unadulterated spiritual milk, so that by it, you may grow up into salvation*— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is kind.*
The Living Stone and His Chosen People
4 As you come near to Him—the living Stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in the sight of God— 5 you yourselves, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it is contained in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”*
7 Therefore, the honour is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone which the builders* rejected—
this One has become the cornerstone,”**
8 and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.”*
They* stumble because they disobey the word—to which they were also appointed.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own* possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. 10 You who once were not a people but now are the people of God; those who had not received mercy but now have received mercy.
Christians' Honourable Conduct and Just Suffering
11 Beloved, I exhort you as temporary residents and foreigners to deliberately refrain from fleshly desires, which wage war against your soul, 12 keeping your conduct among the Gentiles honourable, so that in the thing in which they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by observing your good deeds, glorify God on the day of visitation.
13 Subject yourselves to every human institution for the sake of the Lord, whether to a king as having supreme authority, 14 or to governors as those sent out by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God: that by doing good, you put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as free persons, yet do not use your freedom as a cover for evil, but as servants of God. 17 Honour everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are warped. 19 For this finds* favour, if because of consciousness of God, someone bears up under griefs while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is there if you endure when you sin and are beaten for it? But if you endure while doing good and suffering for it,* this finds favour with God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in His steps— 22 who did not commit sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth; 23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to the One who judges justly; 24 who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness; by whose wounds you have been healed. 25 For you kept going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Notes
2 Some ancient manuscripts omit into salvation
3 Some ancient manuscripts read the Lord is Christ
6 Quoted from Is. 28:16
7 Greek the ones who build
7 Greek the head of the corner
7 Quoted from Ps. 118:22
8 Quoted from Is. 8:14
8 Greek who
9 The expression His own is supplied to the text based on context for the sake of clarity
19 The word finds is supplied to the text based on context for the sake of clarity. So also v. 20
20 The prepositional phrase for it is supplied to the text based on context for the sake of clarity
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
