تحية
1 مِنْ بُطرُسَ، رَسولِ يَسوعَ المَسيحِ، إلى المُختارينَ المُتَغرّبـينَ المُشَتّتينَ في بنتُسَ وغَلاطِيّةَ وكَـبّدُوكِـيّةَ وآسيةَ وبـيثينـيّةَ، 2 إلى الذينَ اَختارَهُمُ اللهُ الآبُ بِسابِقِ عِلمِهِ وقَدّسَهُم بالرّوحِ ليُطيعوا يَسوعَ المَسيحَ ويَتَطَهّروا بِرَشّ دَمِه.
علَيكُم وافِرُ النّعمَةِ والسّلامِ.
رجاء حي
3 تَبارَكَ اللهُ أبو رَبّنا يَسوعَ المَسيحِ لأنّهُ شَمَلَنا بِفائِقِ رَحمَتِهِ، فوَلَدَنا بِقيامَةِ يَسوعَ المَسيحِ مِنْ بَينِ الأمواتِ وِلادَةً ثانِـيَةً لِرَجاءٍ حَيّ 4 ولِميراثٍ لا يَفسُدُ ولا يتَدَنّسُ ولا يَضمَحِلّ، مَحفوظٌ لكُم في السّماواتِ، 5 أنتُمُ الذينَ بِالإيمانِ تَحرُسُكُم قُدرَةُ اللهِ لِخَلاصٍ سينكشِفُ في اليومِ الأخيرِ، 6 بِه تَبتَهِجونَ، معَ أنّكم لا بُدّ أنْ تَحزَنوا حينًا بِما يُصيبُكمُ الآنَ مِنْ أنواعِ المِحَنِ 7 التي تَمتَحِنُ إيمانَكُم كما تَمتَحِنُ النّارُ الذّهَبَ، وهوَ أثمَنُ مِنَ الذّهَبِ الفاني، فيكونُ أهلاً لِلمَديحِ والمَجدِ والإكرامِ يومَ ظُهورِ يَسوعَ المَسيحِ. 8 أنتُم تُحبّونَهُ وما رأيتُموهُ، وتُؤْمِنونَ بِه ولا تَرَوْنَهُ الآنَ، فتَفرَحونَ فَرَحًا مَجيدًا لا يوصَفُ، 9 واثِقينَ بِبُلوغِ غايَةِ إيمانِكُم وهِـيَ خَلاصُ نُفوسِكُم.
10 عَنْ هذا الخَلاصِ فَتّشَ الأنبـياءُ وبَحَثوا، فأنبَأُوا بالنّعمَةِ التي نِلتموها. 11 وحاوَلوا أنْ يَعرِفوا الوَقتَ وكيفَ تَجيءُ هذِهِ النّعمَةُ التي دَلّ علَيها رُوحُ المَسيحِ فيهِم، حينَ شَهِدَ مِنْ قَبلُ بآلامِ المَسيحِ وما يَتلوها مِنْ مَجدٍ. 12 واَنكشَفَ لهُم أنّهُم كانوا يَعمَلونَ، لا مِنْ أجلِهِم، بَلْ مِنْ أجلِكُم، لِهذِهِ الأُمورِ التي أعلَنَها الآنَ لكُمُ الذينَ بَشّروكُم بِها، يُؤَيّدُهُمُ الرّوحُ القُدُسُ المُرسَلُ مِنَ السّماءِ، والمَلائِكَةُ يَتَمنّونَ أنْ يَنظُروا إلَيها.
دعوة إلى حياة القداسة
13 لذلِكَ هَيّئوا عُقولَكُم وتَنَبّهوا واَجعَلوا كُلّ رَجائِكُم في النّعمَةِ التي تَجيئُكُم عِندَ ظُهورِ يَسوعَ المَسيحِ. 14 وكأبناءٍ طائِعينَ، لا تَتبَعوا شَهَواتِكم ذاتَها التي تَبِعتُموها في أيّامِ جَهالَتِكُم، 15 بَلْ كونوا قِدّيسينَ في كُلّ ما تَعمَلونَ، لأنّ اللهَ الذي دَعاكُم قُدّوسٌ. 16 فالكِتابُ يَقولُ: «كونوا قِدّيسينَ لأنّي أنا قُدّوسٌ».
17 وإذا كُنتُم تَدعُونَ اللهَ أبًا، وهوَ الذي يَدينُ مِنْ غَيرِ مُحاباةٍ كُلّ واحدٍ على قَدْرِ أعمالِهِ، فَعيشوا مُدّةَ غُربَتِكُم في مخافَتِهِ، 18 عارِفينَ أنّهُ اَفتَداكُم مِنْ سِيرَتِكُمُ الباطِلَةِ التي ورِثتُموها عَنْ آبائِكُم، لا بِالفاني مِنَ الفِضّةِ أوِ الذّهَبِ، 19 بَلْ بِدَمٍ كَريمٍ، دمِ الحمَلِ الذي لا عَيبَ فيهِ ولا دنَسَ، دَمِ المَسيحِ. 20 وكانَ اللهُ اَختارَهُ قَبلَ إنشاءِ العالَمِ، ثُمّ تَجَلّى مِنْ أجلِكُم في الأزمِنَةِ الأخيرَةِ، 21 وهوَ الذي جعَلَكُم تُؤمِنونَ باللهِ الذي أقامَهُ مِنْ بَينِ الأمواتِ ووهَبَهُ المَجدَ، فأصبَحَ اللهُ غايَةَ إيمانِكُم ورَجائِكُم.
22 والآنَ، بَعدَما طَهّرتُم نُفوسَكُم بإطاعَةِ الحَقّ وصِرتُم تُحبّونَ إخوَتَكُم حُبّا صادِقًا، أحِبّوا بَعضُكم بَعضًا حُبّا طاهِرًا مِنْ صَميمِ القَلبِ. 23 فأنتُم وُلِدتُم وِلادَةً ثانِـيَةً، لا مِنْ زَرعٍ يَفنى، بَلْ مِنْ زَرع لا يَفنى، وهوَ كَلِمة اللهِ الحَـيّةُ الباقِـيَةُ. 24 فالكِتابُ يقولُ:
«كُلّ بَشَرٍ كَالعُشبِ
وكُلّ مَجدهِ كَزَهرِ العُشبِ.
العُشبُ يَيبَسُ وزَهرُهُ يَسقُطُ،
25 وكلامُ اللهِ يَبقى إلى الأبَدِ».
هذا هوَ الكلامُ الذي بَشّرناكُم بهِ.
1 From Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
To God's people who are scattered like foreigners in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
2 God the Father decided to choose you as his people, and his Spirit has made you holy. You have obeyed Jesus Christ and are sprinkled with his blood.
I pray that God will be kind to you and will keep on giving you peace!
A Real Reason for Hope
3 Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on. 4 God has something stored up for you in heaven, where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear.
5 You have faith in God, whose power will protect you until the last day. Then he will save you, just as he has always planned to do. 6 On that day you will be glad, even if you have to go through many hard trials for a while. 7 Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed. They will show that you will be given praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ returns.
8 You have never seen Jesus, and you don't see him now. But still you love him and have faith in him, and no words can tell how glad and happy 9 you are to be saved. This is why you have faith.
10 Some prophets told how God would treat you with undeserved grace, and they searched hard to find out more about the way you would be saved. 11 The Spirit of Christ was in them and was telling them how Christ would suffer and would then be given great honor. So they searched to find out exactly who Christ would be and when this would happen. 12 But they were told that they were serving you and not themselves. They preached to you by the power of the Holy Spirit, who was sent from heaven. And their message was only for you, even though angels would like to know more about it.
Chosen To Live a Holy Life
13 Be alert and think straight. Put all your hope in how God will treat you with undeserved grace when Jesus Christ appears. 14 Behave like obedient children. Don't let your lives be controlled by your desires, as they used to be. 15 Always live as God's holy people should, because God is the one who chose you, and he is holy. 16 That's why the Scriptures say, “I am the holy God, and you must be holy too.”
17 You say that God is your Father, but God doesn't have favorites! He judges all people by what they do. So you must honor God while you live as strangers here on earth. 18 You were rescued from the useless way of life you learned from your ancestors. But you know you were not rescued by such things as silver or gold that don't last forever. 19 You were rescued by the precious blood of Christ, that spotless and innocent lamb. 20 Christ was chosen even before the world was created, but because of you, he did not come until these last days. 21 And when he did come, it was to lead you to have faith in God, who raised him from death and honored him in a glorious way. This is why you have put your faith and hope in God.
22 You obeyed the truth, and your souls were made pure. Now you sincerely love each other. But you must keep on loving with all your heart. 23 Do this because God has given you new birth by his message that lives on forever. 24 The Scriptures say,
“Humans wither like grass,
and their glory fades
like wild flowers.
Grass dries up,
and flowers fall
to the ground.
25 But what the Lord has said
will stand forever.”
Our good news to you is what the Lord has said.