(Tap footnote to read it. Old Testament quotations are underlined. "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.1"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love". However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings – agapé centers on choice and behavior. It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings. (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".) Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé". Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing. It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. )
Greeting from Peter
- Peter, an apostle of Jesus the Anointed to the elect sojourners of the Dispersion1“the Dispersion” refers to the Jews who were spread across – i.e. dispersed – throughout the Roman Empire. in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
- according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the Spirit making you holy, for obedience and purification by the sprinkled2“purification by the sprinkled” is one word In Greek. It refers to blood which was sprinkled on someone or something for ceremonial purification. blood of Jesus the Anointed; may grace and peace be multiplied to you.
- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Anointed , the One who – according to His great mercy – rebirthed us into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus the Anointed from the dead,
- into an inheritance that’s imperishable, and undefiled, and unfading; *reserved for you in the heavens.
- Men who are being guarded by God’s power through faith for the salvation that’s ready to be revealed in the last season,
- in which you jump for joy, though if necessary you are grieved by various trials now for a short time
- so that the tested authenticity of your faith – which is more precious than perishing gold though refined through fire – might be found; leading into praise, and glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus the Anointed.
- He whom you ^love though not having seen Him. For whom you greatly rejoice with inexpressible joy and *full of glory; though not seeing Him, yet now believing in Him,
- and receiving back the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your being.3“being” The Greek word here is “ψυχή” (psuché), typically translated “soul”. However, It does not mean the part of us which survives death and goes to reward or punishment (Biblically that’s our spirit. In Revelation 8:9, animals are said to have “psuché”.) Psuché literally means “breath” and is usually translated “life”. It refers to the life; the vital force which – together with the body – enables a person to live. It can also refer to mind, will, emotions, and desires, which together make up a person’s identity, and by extension their entire being.
- Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought out and diligently searched; the men who prophesied concerning the grace to you,
- diligently searching into what (or what sort of) season the Spirit of the Anointed in them was revealing, and predicting the Anointed’s sufferings and the glories after them.
- Prophets to whom it was revealed that they weren’t serving themselves, but you, in the matters which now were reported to you through the men who proclaimed the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven; matters into which the angels yearn to look.
Be holy, for He is Holy
- Therefore, having girded the loins4“having girded the loins”. This is a cultural reference, referring to the process of tying a belt or rope around the waist to gather their long robes and prevent them from getting in the way of work. It figuratively came to mean getting ready for action or work. of your mind and being sober, set your hope completely on the grace being brought to you by the revelation of Jesus the Anointed.
- As obedient children, don’t be conforming yourselves to the former cravings you had in your ignorance,
- but as the One who called you is holy, you yourselves must also become holy in all your conduct,
- because it is *written: “You shall be holy because I am holy.”5quotation/allusion to Leviticus 11:44
- And if you call upon the Father – the One impartially judging according to the work of each man – sojourn in reverent fear during the time of your sojourn,
- *knowing that you weren’t purchased back from your futile way of life handed down by your fathers with perishable silver or gold,
- but with the precious blood of the Anointed, like an unblemished and unstained lamb.
- Indeed, He was *known beforehand – before the foundation of the world – but He was revealed in the last times for your sake.
- You who through Him believe in God; the One who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, in order for your faith and hope to be in God.
- And having *purified your souls by obedience to the truth leading into unfeigned brotherly love, fervently ^love one another from [a pure] heart,
- having been *born again not from perishable seed, but from imperishable seed through the living and abiding word of God,
- because “all flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like a grassy flower. The grass withered and the flower faded away,
- but the word of the Lord remains through the age.”6quotation/allusion to Isaiah 40:6-8 And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.
Next: 1 Peter chapter 2
Previous: James chapter 5
Up: BOS Bible Index
Note: If you think a word, phrase, or passage could be better translated - or is wrong - then Please Say Something. This is an open source Bible that's accountable to all Christians. See this link for details.
Legal Use: Please feel free to quote the BOS Bible, but follow the guidelines on the Legal Use page when doing so. They are easy and mostly common sense.