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

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone^(F)—rejected by humans but chosen by God^(G) and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built^(H) into a spiritual house^[a](I) to be a holy priesthood,^(J) offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.^{(K) 6} For in Scripture it says:

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

⁸ and,

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

⁹ But you are a chosen people,^(S) a royal priesthood,^(T) a holy nation,^(U) God’s special possession,^(V) that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.^{(W) 10} Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God;^(X) once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Living Godly Lives in a Pagan Society

¹¹ Dear friends,^(Y) I urge you, as foreigners and exiles,^(Z) to abstain from sinful desires,^(AA) which wage war against your soul.^{(AB) 12} Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds^(AC) and glorify God^(AD) on the day he visits us.

Do Everything Without Grumbling

¹² Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,^{(A) 13} for it is God who works in you^(B) to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.^(C)

God’s Children and Sin

²⁸ And now, dear children,^(A) continue in him, so that when he appears^(B) we may be confident^(C) and unashamed before him at his coming.^(D)

²⁹ If you know that he is righteous,^(E) you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.^(F)

3 See what great love^(G) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!^(H) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.^{(I) 2} Dear friends,^(J) now we are children of God,^(K) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[a](L) we shall be like him,^(M) for we shall see him as he is.^{(N) 3} All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^(O) just as he is pure.^(P)