Weymouth New Testament in Modern Speech, 1 Peter
Excerpt
Book 60 1 Peter
001:001 Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ: To God’s own
people
scattered over the
earth, who are living as foreigners
in Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Roman Asia, and Bithynia,
001:002 chosen in accordance with the foreknowledge of God the
Father,
through the
sanctifying work of the Spirit, with a view
to their obedience
and to their being sprinkled with the blood
of Jesus
Christ. May more and more grace and peace be
granted to
you.
001:003 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ,
who in His great
mercy has begotten us anew to an ever-living
hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
001:004 to an inheritance imperishable, undefiled and
unfading,
which has been
reserved in Heaven for you,
001:005 whom God in His power is guarding through faith for a
salvation
that even now
stands ready for unveiling at the End of the Age.
001:006 Rejoice triumphantly in the prospect of this, even if
now,
for a short time,
you are compelled to sorrow amid various trials.
001:007 The sorrow comes in order that the testing of your
faith—
being more precious
than that of gold, which perishes and yet
is proved by
fire—may be found to result in praise and
glory
and honour at the
re-appearing of Jesus Christ.
001:008 Him you love, though your eyes have never looked on
Him.
In Him, though at
present you cannot see Him, you nevertheless
trust, and triumph
with a joy which is unspeakable and is
crowned with
glory,
001:009 while you are securing as the outcome of your faith the
salvation
of your
souls.
001:010 There were Prophets who earnestly inquired about that
salvation,
and closely
searched into it—even those who spoke
beforehand
of the grace which
was to come to you.
001:011 They were eager to know the time which the Spirit of Christ
within
them kept
indicating, or the characteristics of that time,
when they solemnly
made known beforehand the sufferings that
were to come upon
Christ and the glories which would follow.
001:012 To them it was revealed that they were serving not
themselves but you,
when they foretold
the very things which have now been openly
declared to you by
those who, having been taught by the Holy Spirit
which had been sent
from Heaven, brought you the Good News.
Angels long to
stoop and look into these things.
001:013 Therefore gird up your minds and fix your hopes
calmly
and unfalteringly
upon the boon that is soon to be yours,
at the re-appearing
of Jesus Christ.
001:014 And, since you delight in obedience, do not shape your
lives
by the cravings
which used to dominate you in the time
of your
ignorance,
001:015 but—in imitation of the holy One who has called
you—
you also must be
holy in all your habits of life.
001:016 Because it stands written, “You are to be holy,
because I am holy.”
001:017 And if you address as your Father Him who judges
impartially
in accordance with
each man’s actions, then spend in fear
the time of your
stay here on earth,
001:018 knowing, as you do, that it was not with a ransom
of
perishable wealth,
such as silver or gold, that you were set
free from your
frivolous habits of life which had been handed
down to you from
your forefathers,
001:019 but with the precious blood of Christ—as of an
unblemished
and spotless
lamb.
001:020 He was pre-destined indeed to this work, even before the
creation
of the world, but
has been plainly manifested in these last
days for the sake
of you who, through Him,
001:021 are faithful to God, who raised Him from among the dead and
gave
Him glory, so that
your faith and hope are resting upon God.
001:022 Now that, through your obedience to the truth, you
have
purified your souls
for cherishing sincere brotherly love,
you must love
another heartily and fervently.
001:023 For you have been begotten again by God’s ever-living
and enduring
word from a germ
not of perishable, but of imperishable life.
001:024 “All mankind resemble the herbage, and all their
beauty is like
its flowers.
The herbage dries up, and its flowers drop off;
001:025 But the word of the Lord remains for ever.” And
that means
the Message which
has been proclaimed among you in the Good News.
002:001 Rid yourselves therefore of all ill-will and all
deceitfulness,
of insincerity and
envy, and of all evil speaking.
002:002 Thirst, like newly-born infants, for pure milk for the
soul,
that by it you may
grow up to salvation;
002:003 if you have had any experience of the goodness of the
Lord.
002:004 Come to Him, the ever-living Stone, rejected indeed by
men
as worthless, but
in God’s esteem chosen and held in honour.
002:005 And be yourselves also like living stones that are being
built
up into a spiritual
house, to become a holy priesthood to offer
spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
002:006 For it is contained in Scripture, “See, I am placing
on Mount Zion
a Cornerstone,
chosen, and held in honour, and he whose faith
rests on Him shall
never have reason to feel ashamed.”
002:007 To you believers, therefore, that honour belongs; but
for
unbelievers—“A
Stone which the builders rejected has been
made the
Cornerstone,”
002:008 and “a Stone for the foot to strike against, and a
Rock to
stumble
over.” Their foot strikes against it because they
are
disobedient to
God’s Message, and to this they were appointed.
002:009 But you are a chosen race, a priesthood of kingly
lineage,
a holy nation, a
people belonging specially to God,
that you may make
known the perfections of Him who called
you out of darkness
into His marvellous light.
002:010 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of
God.
Once you had not
found mercy, but now you have.
002:011 Dear friends, I entreat you as pilgrims and
foreigners
not to indulge the
cravings of your lower natures:
for all such
cravings wage war upon the soul.
002:012 Live honourable lives among the Gentiles, in order
that,
although they now
speak against you as evil-doers, they may
yet witness your
good conduct, and may glorify God on the day
of reward and
retribution.
002:013 Submit, for the Lord’s sake, to every authority set
up by man,
whether it be to
the Emperor as supreme ruler,
002:014 or to provincial Governors as sent by him for the
punishment
of evil-doers and
the encouragement of those who do what is right.
002:015 For it is God’s will that by doing what is right you
should
thus silence the
ignorant talk of foolish persons.
002:016 Be free men, and yet do not make your freedom an
excuse
for base conduct,
but be God’s bondservants.
002:017 Honour every one. Love the brotherhood, fear
God,
honour the
Emperor.
002:018 Household servants, be submissive to your masters, and show
them
the utmost
respect—not only if they are kind and
thoughtful,
but also if they
are unreasonable.
002:019 For it is an acceptable thing with God, if, from a sense of
duty
to Him, a man
patiently submits to wrong, when treated unjustly.
002:020 If you do wrong and receive a blow for it, what credit is
there
in your bearing it
patiently? But if when you do right and
suffer for it you
bear it patiently, this is an acceptable
thing with
God.
002:021 And it is to this you were called; because Christ also
suffered
on your behalf,
leaving you an example so that you should
follow in His
steps.
002:022 He never sinned, and no deceitful language was ever
heard
from His
mouth.
002:023 When He was reviled, He did not answer with
reviling;
when He suffered He
uttered no threats, but left His wrongs
in the hands of the
righteous Judge.
002:024 The burden of our sins He Himself carried in His own
body
to the Cross and
bore it there, so that we, having died
so far as our sins
are concerned, may live righteous lives.
By His wounds yours
have been healed.
002:025 For you were straying like lost sheep, but now you have
come
back to the
Shepherd and Protector of your souls.
003:001 Married women, in the same way, be submissive to your
husbands,
so that even if
some of them disbelieve the Message, they may,
apart from the
Message, be won over by the daily life
of their wives,
after watching your daily life—
003:002 so full of reverence, and so blameless!
003:003 Your adornment ought not to be a merely outward
thing—one of plaiting
the hair, putting
on jewelry, or wearing beautiful dresses.
003:004 Instead of that, it should be a new nature
within—
the imperishable
ornament of a gentle and peaceful spirit,
which is indeed
precious in the sight of God.
003:005 For in ancient times also this was the way the holy
women
who set their hopes
upon God used to adorn themselves,
being submissive to
their husbands.
003:006 Thus, for instance, Sarah obeyed Abraham, acknowledging
his
authority over
her. And you have become Sarah’s children if
you
do what is right
and permit nothing whatever to terrify you.
003:007 Married men, in the same way, live with your wives with a
clear
recognition of the
fact that they are weaker than you.
Yet, since you are
heirs with them of God’s free gift of Life,
treat them with
honour; so that your prayers may not be hindered.
003:008 In conclusion, all of you should be of one mind, quick to
sympathize,
kind to the
brethren, tenderhearted, lowly-minded,
003:009 not requiting evil with evil nor abuse with abuse,
but,
on the contrary,
giving a blessing in return, because a blessing
is what you have
been called by God to inherit.
003:010 For “He who wishes to be well-satisfied with life and
see
happy
days—let him restrain his tongue from evil, and
his
lips from deceitful
words;
003:011 Let him turn from evil, and do good; Let him inquire for
peace
and go in pursuit
of it.
003:012 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His
ears
are open to their
supplication; but the face of the Lord
is set against
evil-doers.”
003:013 And who will be able to harm you, if you show
yourselves
zealous for that
which is good?
003:014 But even if you suffer for righteousness’ sake, you
are to be envied.
So do not be
alarmed by their threats, nor troubled;
003:015 but in your hearts consecrate Christ as Lord, being always
ready
to make your
defence to any one who asks from you a reason
for the hope which
you cherish.
003:016 Yet argue modestly and cautiously, keeping your
consciences
free from guilt, so
that, when you are spoken against,
those who slander
your good Christian lives may be put to shame.
003:017 For it is better that you should suffer for doing
right,
if such be
God’s will, than for doing evil;
003:018 because Christ also once for all died for sins, the
innocent
One for the guilty
many, in order to bring us to God.
He was put to death
in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,
003:019 in which He also went and proclaimed His Message to the
spirits
that were in
prison,
003:020 who in ancient times had been disobedient, while
God’s
longsuffering was
patiently waiting in the days of Noah
during the building
of the Ark, in which a few persons—
eight in
number—were brought safely through the water.
003:021 And, corresponding to that figure, the water of baptism now
saves you—
not the washing off
of material defilement, but the craving
of a good
conscience after God—through the resurrection
of Jesus
Christ,
003:022 who is at God’s right hand, having gone into Heaven,
angels and
authorities and
powers having been made subject to Him.
004:001 Since, then, Christ has suffered in the flesh, you also
must
arm yourselves with
a determination to do the same—
because he who has
suffered in the flesh has done with sin—
004:002 that in future you may spend the rest of your earthly
lives,
governed not by
human passions, but by the will of God.
004:003 For you have given time enough in the past to the doing
of
the things which
the Gentiles delight in—pursuing, as you did,
a course of
habitual licence, debauchery, hard drinking,
noisy revelry,
drunkenness and unholy image-worship.
004:004 At this they are astonished—that you do not run
into the same
excess of
profligacy as they do; and they speak abusively of you.
004:005 But they will have to give account to Him who stands
ready
to pronounce
judgement on the living and the dead.
004:006 For it is with this end in view that the Good News
was
proclaimed even to
some who were dead, that they may be judged,
as all mankind will
be judged, in the body, but may be living
a godly life in the
spirit.
004:007 But the end of all things is now close at
hand:
therefore be
sober-minded and temperate, so that you may give
yourselves to
prayer.
004:008 Above all continue to love one another fervently, for
love
throws a veil over
a multitude of faults.
004:009 Extend ungrudging hospitality towards one
another.
004:010 Whatever be the gifts which each has received, you
must
use them for one
another’s benefit, as good stewards of
God’s
many-sided kindness.
004:011 If any one preaches, let it be as uttering God’s
truth;
if any one renders
a service to others, let it be in the strength
which God supplies;
so that in everything glory may be given
to God in the name
of Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory
and the might to
the Ages of the Ages. Amen.
004:012 Dear friends, do not be surprised at finding that that
scorching
flame of
persecution is raging among you to put you to the
test—
as though some
surprising thing were accidentally happening to you.
004:013 On the contrary, in the degree that you share in the
sufferings
of the Christ,
rejoice, so that at the unveiling of His glory
you may also
rejoice with triumphant gladness.
004:014 You are to be envied, if you are being reproached for
bearing
the name of Christ;
for in that case the Spirit of glory—
even the Spirit of
God—is resting upon you.
004:015 But let not one of you suffer as a murderer or a
thief
or an evil-doer, or
as a spy upon other people’s business.
004:016 If, however, any one suffers because he is a
Christian,
let him not be
ashamed, but let him glorify God for being
permitted to bear
that name.
004:017 For the time has come for judgement to begin, and to
begin
at the house of
God; and if it begins with us, what will be
the end of those
who reject God’s Good News?
004:018 And if it is difficult even for a righteous man to be
saved,
what will become of
irreligious men and sinners?
004:019 Therefore also, let those who are suffering in
accordance
with the will of
God entrust their souls in well-doing
to a faithful
Creator.
005:001 So I exhort the Elders among you—I who am their
fellow Elder
and have been an
eye-witness of the sufferings of the Christ,
and am also a
sharer in the glory which is soon to be revealed.
005:002 Be shepherds of God’s flock which is among
you.
Exercise the
oversight not reluctantly but eagerly,
in accordance with
the will of God; not for base gain but
with cheerful
minds;
005:003 not lording it over your Churches but proving
yourselves
patterns for the
flock to imitate.
005:004 And then, when the chief Shepherd appears, you will
receive
the never-withering
wreath of glory.
005:005 In the same way you younger men must submit to your
elders;
and all of you must
gird yourselves with humility towards
one another, for
God sets Himself against the proud,
but gives grace to
the humble.
005:006 Humble yourselves therefore beneath the mighty hand of
God,
so that at the
right time He may set you on high.
005:007 Throw the whole of your anxiety upon Him, because He
Himself
cares for
you.
005:008 Curb every passion, and be on the alert. Your great
accuser,
the Devil, is going
about like a roaring lion to see whom
he can
devour.
005:009 Withstand him, firm in your faith; knowing that your
brethren
in other parts of
the world are passing through just
the same
experiences.
005:010 And God, the giver of all grace, who has called you to
share His
eternal glory,
through Christ, after you have suffered for a
short time, will
Himself make you perfect, firm, and strong.
005:011 To Him be all power unto the Ages of the Ages!
Amen.
005:012 I send this short letter by Silas, our faithful
brother—
for such I regard
him—in order to encourage you, and to bear
witness that what I
have told you is the true grace of God.
In it stand
fast.
005:013 The Church in Babylon, chosen like yourselves by
God,
sends greetings,
and so does Mark my son.
005:014 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be with
all of you
who are in
Christ.
