A Greeting from Peter

¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,To the elect who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen

²according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood:Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

A Living Hope

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birthinto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,

⁵who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials

⁷so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁸Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

⁹now that you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully,

¹¹trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

¹²It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

A Call to Holiness

¹³Therefore prepare your minds for action.Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹⁴As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.

¹⁵But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,

¹⁶for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

¹⁷Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners.

¹⁸For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,

¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

²⁰He was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake.

²¹Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.

The Enduring Word

²²Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.

²³For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

²⁴For,“All flesh is like grass,and all its glory like the flowers of the field;the grass withers and the flowers fall,

²⁵but the word of the Lord stands forever.”And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.

A Greeting from James

¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion:Greetings.

Rejoicing in Trials

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,

³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

⁴Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

⁶But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

⁷That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

⁸He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

⁹The brother in humble circumstances should exult in his high position.

¹⁰But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.

¹¹For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

¹²Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

Good and Perfect Gifts

¹³When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.

¹⁴But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.

¹⁵Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

¹⁷Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.

¹⁸He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.

Hearing and Doing

¹⁹My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

²⁰for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.

²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.

²²Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.

²³For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,

²⁴and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

²⁵But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.

²⁷Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

The Sabbath Rest

¹Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it.

²For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it.

³Now we who have believed enter that rest. As for the others, it is just as God has said:“So I swore on oath in My anger,‘They shall never enter My rest.’”And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world.

⁴For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this manner: “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works.”

⁵And again, as He says in the passage above: “They shall never enter My rest.”

⁶Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience,

⁷God again designated a certain day as “Today,” when a long time later He spoke through David as was just stated: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”

⁸For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.

⁹There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

¹⁰For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His.

¹¹Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.

The Living Word

¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.

¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.

¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Bless the LORD, O My Soul

¹Bless the LORD, O my soul;all that is within me, bless His holy name.

²Bless the LORD, O my soul,and do not forget all His kind deeds—

³He who forgives all your iniquitiesand heals all your diseases,

⁴who redeems your life from the Pitand crowns you with loving devotion and compassion,

⁵who satisfies you with good things,so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶The LORD executes righteousnessand justice for all the oppressed.

⁷He made known His ways to Moses,His deeds to the people of Israel.

⁸The LORD is compassionate and gracious,slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.

⁹He will not always accuse us,nor harbor His anger forever.

¹⁰He has not dealt with us according to our sinsor repaid us according to our iniquities.

¹¹For as high as the heavens are above the earth,so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.

¹²As far as the east is from the west,so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

¹³As a father has compassion on his children,so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

¹⁴For He knows our frame;He is mindful that we are dust.

¹⁵As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field;

¹⁶when the wind passes over, it vanishes,and its place remembers it no more.

¹⁷But from everlasting to everlastingthe loving devotion of the LORDextends to those who fear Him,and His righteousness to their children’s children—

¹⁸to those who keep His covenantand remember to obey His precepts.

¹⁹The LORD has established His throne in heaven,and His kingdom rules over all.

²⁰Bless the LORD, all His angels mighty in strengthwho carry out His word,who hearken to the voice of His command.

²¹Bless the LORD, all His hosts,you servants who do His will.

²²Bless the LORD, all His worksin all places of His dominion.Bless the LORD, O my soul!