1 Peter 2:1-12

English Standard Version

A Living Stone and a Holy People

2 ^(A)So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. ²^(B)Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual ^(C)milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— ³if indeed you have ^(D)tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴As you come to him, a living stone ^(E)rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵^(F)you yourselves like living stones are being built up as ^(G)a spiritual house, to be ^(H)a holy priesthood, ^(I)to offer spiritual sacrifices ^(J)acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For it stands in Scripture:

^(K)“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
^(L)and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

⁷So the honor is for you who ^(M)believe, but for those who ^(N)do not believe,

^(O)“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”^[a]

⁸and

^(P)“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, ^(Q)as they were destined to do.

⁹But you are ^(R)a chosen race, ^(S)a royal ^(T)priesthood, ^(U)a holy nation, ^(V)a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you ^(W)out of darkness into ^(X)his marvelous light. ¹⁰^(Y)Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹Beloved, I urge you ^(Z)as sojourners and exiles ^(AA)to abstain from the passions of the flesh, ^(AB)which wage war against your soul. ¹²^(AC)Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, ^(AD)they may see your good deeds and glorify God on ^(AE)the day of visitation.