Read The Jewish Annotated New Testament Online
Authors: Amy-Jill Levine
That word is the good news that was announced to you.
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Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander.
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Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation—
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if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
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Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and
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like living stones, let yourselves be built
*
into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
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For it stands in scripture:
USE OF ISRAEL’S SCRIPTURE
Christian identification with biblical Israel became so familiar that by the second century, the apologist Justin Martyr declared Christians the “true Israel” (
Dial
. 11.5; 123.6–9; 135.3). An unfortunate corollary for some Christian interpreters was that “old Israel” lost the covenant (so the
Epistle of Barnabas
, which is included in some early Christian canonical listings). The stage was set for an anti-Jewish reading of Israel’s Scripture and the denial of Jews as a covenant people.
In ch 2 of 1 Peter the author marshals verses from the Septuagint much as rabbinic literature uses biblical verses as proof texts. The aim is clear: Christians assume the identity of Israel, the people of God, through faith in Jesus. In becoming Israel, these Christians may suffer as the Exodus people, and like Israel, they will be rescued. What has happened to the Jews, the former Israel, the author does not say. So thorough is the church’s identification with biblical Israel that non-Christians are now called “Gentiles” (2.12), and the hostile world is the “diaspora.”
“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him
*
will not be
put to shame.”
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To you then who believe, he is precious; but
for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner,”
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and
“A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
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But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,
*
in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
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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.
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Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul.
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Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.
*
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For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution,
*
whether of the emperor as supreme,
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or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.
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For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish.
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As servants
*
of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil.
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Honor everyone. Love the family of believers.
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Fear God. Honor the emperor.
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Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh.
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For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly.
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If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval.
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For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.
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“He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
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When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.
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He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross,
*
so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds
*
you have been healed.
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For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
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Wives, in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct,
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when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
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Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and by wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing;
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rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight.
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It was in this way long ago that the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by accepting the authority of their husbands.
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Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her daughters as long as you do what is good and never let fears alarm you.
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Husbands, in the same way, show consideration for your wives in your life together, paying honor to the woman as the weaker sex,
*
since they too are also heirs of the gracious gift of life—so that nothing may hinder your prayers.
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Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
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Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing.
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For
“Those who desire life
and desire to see good days,
let them keep their tongues from evil
and their lips from speaking deceit;
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let them turn away from evil and do
good;
let them seek peace and pursue it.
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For the eyes of the Lord are on the
righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those
who do evil.”
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Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good?
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But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear,
*
and do not be intimidated,
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but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you;
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yet do it with gentleness and reverence.
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Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.
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For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.
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For Christ also suffered
*
for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you
*
to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,
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in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison,
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who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.
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And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for
*
a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
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who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
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Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh,
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arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin),
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so as to live for the rest of your earthly life
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no longer by human desires but by the will of God.
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You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry.
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They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme.
*
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But they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.
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For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.
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The end of all things is near;
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therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers.
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Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.
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Be hospitable to one another without complaining.
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Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.
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Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
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Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
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But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.
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If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory,
*
which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.
*
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But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker.
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Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.
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For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
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And