Greeting
1 Peter, a an apostle of Jesus Christ:
To those chosen, living as exiles b dispersed c abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, d chosen e 2 according to the foreknowledge f of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, g to be obedient h and to be sprinkled with the blood i of Jesus Christ.
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
A Living Hope
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. j Because of his great mercy k he has given us new birth l into a living hope m through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead n 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, o undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven p for you. 5 You are being guarded by God’s power q through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. r 6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials s 7 so that the proven character of your faith t—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire u—may result v in praise, glory, and honor w at the revelation of Jesus Christ. x 8 Though you have not seen y him, you love him; z though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice a with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, b who prophesied about the grace that would come to you, searched and carefully investigated. 11 They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ c within them was indicating when he testified in advance d to the sufferings of Christ e and the glories f that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you g by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven h—angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.
A Call to Holy Living
13 Therefore, with your minds ready for action, i be sober-minded j and set your hope k completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation l of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, m do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. 15 But as the one who called you n is holy, o you also are to be holy in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. ,p 17 If you appeal to the Father who judges impartially q according to each one’s work, r you are to conduct yourselves in reverence s during your time living as strangers. 18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life t inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, u 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, v like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb. w 20 He was foreknown x before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times y for you. 21 Through him you believe in God, z who raised him from the dead a and gave him glory, b so that your faith and hope are in God.
22 Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, c from a pure heart love one another constantly, ,d 23 because you have been born again e—not of perishable seed f but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God. g 24 For
All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory h like a flower of the grass.
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever. ,i
And this word is the gospel that was proclaimed to you.
1:1–2. The themes of this opening set the tone for the whole letter. Peter brings up the three persons of the Trinity (1:2) again in the very next section (1:10–21). But this opening section is particularly balanced by 2:4–10, which brings to a close the first part of the letter. There Peter returns to the theme of the hidden things that are true of his readers even if all the world should shout a different message at them.
1:3–9. At the moment they are facing all kinds of trials (1:6) and are tempted to hopelessness and despair. But the reality is unseen: there is an inheritance that can never perish, which is kept in heaven for us (1:4), as a result of Jesus’s resurrection and our new birth through him (1:3). And there is no possibility of losing it, for however weak we may feel, we are shielded by God’s power until the moment of salvation comes (1:5). Our present experiences are all preparatory, making us fit for glory. Jesus too is unseen; but even so, with our eyes fixed on hidden realities, we will love him and our hearts will sparkle with a joy that surpasses language and even now partakes of the glory that is yet to be (1:8). We already hear the strains of heavenly praise and share in heavenly joy (1:9), even in the midst of suffering and pain.
1:10–12. Peter’s introduction of “the prophets” (1:10a)—probably shorthand for the whole OT—is at first surprising. But there are two reasons for their appearance. First, the prophets back up what Peter writes about the foreknowledge of God the Father (1:2). God announced centuries ago his intention to save the followers of Jesus. It was in fact the Spirit of Christ who spoke in the prophets (1:11). Second, from the prophets we can learn the Christian faith, which Peter has just summarized. Even though they wrote long before Christ came, they realized that they were writing about a grace to be given to someone else, and they eagerly sought to learn about the time and circumstances of its coming, the sufferings of the Christ, and his glories (1:10b–11). The prophets became aware that they were writing for someone else, so that the gospel only needed to be “announced” (1:12) when the time came. The prophets had already testified to it (cf. Rm 15:4; 1 Co 10:11).
1:13–16. The existence of such a prophetic word is a summons to prepare the mind for action (1:13–21). The Greek for “with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded” (1:13) means “make sure you keep all your faculties fully operational” (Peter repeats the exhortation “be alert and sober-minded” in 4:7 and 5:8). The mind that is redirected by the Scriptures will begin to think in a new way. However threatening the present, the mind fully ready for action will set its hope “completely” on God’s grace.
1:17–21. The renewed mind knows that life will end with judgment (1:17). We must therefore live each moment under the scrutiny of the Judge. We may rejoice to know God as Father, but there must also be reverent fear. Every moment matters, eternally. The thought that we are to be judged according to our work could lead to despair, but our eternal salvation is not jeopardized by our moral feebleness. It rests on nothing that we can produce, not even on our silver and gold (1:18): even our best perishes before God’s judgment. Rather, our salvation rests on “the precious blood of Christ” (1:19), just as the blood of the Passover lamb saved the Israelites. [Blemish]
1:22–2:3. How may we be sure of knowing joy in suffering? In the next two paragraphs (1:22–25 and 2:1–3), Peter picks up what he wrote about the prophetic word in 1:10–12 and applies it practically: if our hearts and lives are truly being fed by the word of God, then we will be increasingly transformed within. First, the word of God gives new life (1:22–25). When we obey God’s truth, love will be born in us. God’s word has a vital, life-giving power because of who speaks it. Peter quotes Is 40:6–8, which contrasts the permanence of God’s word with the transitory nature of all earthly life. The gospel that Peter’s readers have heard, and the Scriptures they now read, are alike “the living and enduring word of God” (1:23).