1 Peter 1:22-2:10

New International Version

²²Now that you have purified^(A) yourselves by obeying^(B) the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply,^(C) from the heart.^[a] ²³For you have been born again,^(D) not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,^(E) through the living and enduring word of God.^(F) ²⁴For,

“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
²⁵ but the word of the Lord endures forever.”^[b]^(G)

And this is the word that was preached to you.

2 Therefore, rid yourselves^(H) of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander^(I) of every kind. ²Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk,^(J) so that by it you may grow up^(K) in your salvation, ³now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.^(L)

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

⁴As you come to him, the living Stone^(M)—rejected by humans but chosen by God^(N) and precious to him— ⁵you also, like living stones, are being built^(O) into a spiritual house^[c]^(P) to be a holy priesthood,^(Q) offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.^(R) ⁶For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,^(S)
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”^[d]^(T)

⁷Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,^(U)

“The stone the builders rejected^(V)
has become the cornerstone,”^[e]^(W)

⁸and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”^[f]^(X)

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.^(Y)

⁹But you are a chosen people,^(Z) a royal priesthood,^(AA) a holy nation,^(AB) God’s special possession,^(AC) that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.^(AD) ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God;^(AE) once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.