¹So put aside all wickedness and all deceit and hypocrisies and envyings and all slanderings, ²and, like new-born babies, long for the genuine word-based milk in order that you may increase by means of it, ³assuming you have tasted that the Lord is kindly disposed. ⁴And come to him, a living stone, rejected by men, but with God select and honoured, ⁵while you yourselves are built up as living stones, as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, in order to bring spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶Therefore it says in the scripture, ⁷So you who believe have the honour, but to those who do not believe, the scripture says, ⁸and, And they stumble at the word in disbelieving, to which they for their part were appointed. ⁹But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people destined to be a special possession, in order that you should proclaim the virtues of him who called you out of darkness into his wondrous light ¹⁰– you who were at one time not a people, but are now God's people, who were not shown mercy, but have now been shown mercy. ¹¹Beloved, I exhort you as foreigners and outsiders to abstain from fleshly desires which are at war with the inner self, ¹²keeping your conduct good among the Gentiles, so that in a situation where they slander you as if you were evildoers, they may from observing your good works glorify God on the day of visitation. ¹³So be subject to every human institution on account of the Lord, whether to a king, having supremacy, ¹⁴or whether to leaders, who are sent by him for punishment of evildoers, but for praise of welldoers, ¹⁵for this is the will of God, that welldoers should muzzle the ignorance of foolish men, ¹⁶as free men, and not as ones having freedom as a cover for wrongdoing, but as servants of God. ¹⁷Honour everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. ¹⁸Household servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and fair ones, but also to the unfair ones. ¹⁹For this is grace: if anyone bears grievous things, suffering unjustly, on account of a consciousness of God. ²⁰For what kind of credit is it if, when you sin and are knocked about, you endure it? But if when you do good and suffer, you endure, then this is grace in the estimation of God. ²¹For you were called to this end, seeing that Christ also suffered on our behalf leaving you an example, that you should follow the footsteps of him ²³who, when railed at, did not rail back; when suffering, did not make threats, but committed himself to him who judges righteously, ²⁴who himself took up our sins in his body on the wood, in order that we, having died to sins, should live to righteousness: but you have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your beings.

Reference(s) in Chapter 2: v.3 ↔ Psalm 34:9^MT (Psalm 34:8^AV) ● v.6 ↔ Isaiah 28:16 ● v.7 ↔ Psalm 118:22 ● v.8 ↔ Isaiah 8:14 ● v.10 ↔ Hosea 1:6, Hosea 2:1^MT (Hosea 1:10^AV), Hosea 2:3^MT (Hosea 2:1^AV) ● v.22 ↔ Isaiah 53:9 ● v.23 ↔ Isaiah 53:7 ● v.24 ↔ Isaiah 53:5, Isaiah 53:4 ● v.25 ↔ Isaiah 53:6.