1 Peter 2
Believers are living stones being built into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. They are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Peter urges them to live honorably among pagans. He holds up Christ as the example of suffering unjustly—when He suffered, He did not retaliate but entrusted Himself to God.
Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
'I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.' Peter applies Isaiah's cornerstone prophecy to Jesus.
So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.
Read Isaiah 28 ›I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone
So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.
Read Isaiah 28 ›See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone
So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.
Read Isaiah 28 ›To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
Read Psalms 118 ›and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall
And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.
Read Isaiah 8 ›A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock of offense
And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.
Read Isaiah 8 ›But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
A chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation
The beasts of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people.
Read Isaiah 43 ›You will be my treasured possession, a kingdom of priests
Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
Read Exodus 19 ›Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God
And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”
Read Hosea 2 ›Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to the king as the supreme authority,
or to governors as those sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.
For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorance of foolish men.
Live in freedom, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
Treat everyone with high regard: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
Servants, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but even to those who are unreasonable.
For if anyone endures the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, this is to be commended.
How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps:
“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”
He committed no sin, no deceit was found in his mouth
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Read Isaiah 53 ›He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Read Isaiah 53 ›When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
By his wounds you have been healed
Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
Read Isaiah 53 ›By his wounds you have been healed — suffering for our healing
But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
Read Isaiah 53 ›Scapegoat carrying sins — he bore our sins in his body on the cross
Then he is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task.
Read Leviticus 16 ›For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
All we like sheep have gone astray — you were like sheep going astray
We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
Read Isaiah 53 ›Have a question about 1 Peter 2?
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