Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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1 From Peter, apostle of Jesus
Christ—
1 To God's chosen people who live
as refugees scattered throughout the
provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia.
2 You 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.
2 May grace and peace be yours in
full measure.
A Living Hope
3 Let 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,
4 and 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. note
5 They 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.
6 Be 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.
7 Their 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 honor on the Day when Jesus
Christ is revealed. note
8 You 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,
9 because you
are receiving the salvation of your
souls, which is the purpose of your
faith in him.
10 It was concerning this salvation
that the prophets made careful
search and investigation, and they
prophesied about this gift which
God would give you.
11 They tried to
find out when the time would be and
how it would come. noteThis 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.
12 God 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.
A Call to Holy Living
13 So 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.
14 Be obedient to
God, and do not allow your lives to
be shaped by those desires you had
when you were still ignorant.
15 Instead,
be holy in all that you do, just
as God who called you is holy.
16 The
scripture says, “Be holy because I
am holy.” note
17 You 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.
18 For 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;
19 it
was the costly sacrifice of Christ,
who was like a lamb without defect
or flaw.
20 He had been chosen by
God before the creation of the world
and was revealed in these last days
for your sake.
21 Through him you
believe in God, who raised him from
death and gave him glory; and so
your faith and hope are fixed on
God.
22 Now 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. note
23 For through the living
and eternal word of God you have
been born again as the children of a
parent who is immortal, not mortal.
24 As the scripture says,
“All mankind are like grass,
and all their glory is like wild flowers.
The grass withers, and the flowers fall,
25
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
25 This word is the Good News that
was proclaimed to you. note
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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