1 Peter 2

1 Therefore, do not act maliciously in any way or deceive others. Do not (be a hypocrite/try to make others think that you have qualities that you do not really have), and do not (envy/be jealous of) others. Do not ever slander anyone.

Now that you have done with all malice, all deceitfulness, insincerity, jealous feelings, and all back-biting,

2 Just like newborn babies [long for their mothers’] pure milk [MET], you should long for [God’s] spiritual [truth], so that by learning it you may become [spiritually] mature. [You need to] do this until the day when God [will] free you completely [from all the evil in this world].

like newly born infants, crave pure spiritual milk, so that you may be enabled by it to grow till you attain Salvation —

3 [Also, you need to do this] because you have experienced that the Lord [acts in] a good way toward you.

since ‘you have found by experience that the Lord is kind.’

4 You have come to the Lord Jesus. He is [like an important] stone [MET] [put in the foundation of a building], [but he is] alive, [not lifeless like a stone]. He was rejected by [many] people {[Many] people rejected him}, but God chose him and [considers him] to be very precious.

Come to him, then, as to a living stone, rejected, indeed, by men, but in God’s eyes choice and precious;

5 [And like men] build houses with stones [MET], [God] is causing you to be joined together into a group in which [God’s] Spirit [lives], in order that you, because of what Jesus Christ did for us, might, like priests who offer sacrifices, [do things] that are pleasing to God.

and, as living stones, form yourselves into a spiritual House, to be a consecrated Priesthood, for the offering of spiritual sacrifices that will be acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

6 [What Isaiah wrote] in the Scriptures [shows us that this is true]. [He wrote these words that God said]: Note this well: I am placing in Jerusalem [MTY] [one who is like] [MET] an extremely valuable [DOU] (stone/cornerstone, the most important stone in the structure of a building), and those who believe in him will never be disappointed.

For there is a passage of Scripture that runs — ‘See, I am placing in Zion a choice and precious corner-stone; And he who believes in him shall have no cause for shame.’

7 Therefore, [God will] honor you who believe in [Jesus]. But those who [refuse to] believe in him [are like the builders] that this Scripture [talks about]: The stone that the builders rejected has become (the cornerstone/the most important stone in the foundation of the building).

It is to you, then, who believe in him that he is precious, but to those who do not believe he is ‘a stone which, though rejected by the builders, has now itself become the corner-stone,’

8 And [it is also written] {[Isaiah wrote]} in the Scriptures: [He will be like] a stone that causes people to stumble, like a rock that people trip over. [Just as people are injured when] they stumble over a rock, people who disobey the message [about Jesus are injured spiritually], and that is what [God] determined would happen to them.

and ‘a stumbling-block, and a rock which shall prove a hindrance.’ They stumble because they do not accept the Message. This was the fate destined for them.

9 But you are people whom God has chosen [to belong to him]. You are [a group that represents God like] priests do, and you rule with God [MET] like kings. You are (a holy group of people/a group of people who are separate from evil). You are people who belong to God. This is in order that you might proclaim the virtues of [God. He has] called you from [your former ways], [when you were ignorant of his truth], into the marvelous [understanding that he gives us] [MET]. [That is, he has called you] out of [spiritual] darkness into [spiritual] light.

But you are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, God’s own People,’ entrusted with the proclamation of the goodness of him who called you out of Darkness into his wonderful Light.

10 [What the prophet Hosea wrote is true of you] Formerly, you were not a people [who had a relationship with God], But now you are God’s people. At one time [God] had not acted mercifully toward you, But now he has acted mercifully toward you.

Once you were ‘not a people,’ but now you are ‘God’s People’; once you ‘had not found mercy,’ but now you ‘have found mercy.’

11 You people whom I love, I urge you to consider that you are like foreigners [MET, DOU] [whose real home is in heaven]. As a result, avoid doing the things that your self-directed nature desires, because those desires (fight against/always oppose) your souls.

Dear friends, I urge you, as pilgrims and strangers upon earth, to refrain from indulging the cravings of your earthly nature, for they make war upon the soul.

12 Keep conducting your lives in a good way among those who do not know God. [If you do that], although they may accuse you, saying that you are people who do evil things, they will see your good behavior, and at the time when God comes [to judge people], they will (give honor to him/say that what he does is right).

Let your daily life among the Gentiles be so upright, that, whenever they malign you as evil-doers, they may learn, as they watch, from the uprightness of your conduct, to praise God ‘at the time when he shall visit them.’

13 For the sake of the Lord [Jesus], submit yourselves to every human authority. That includes submitting yourselves to the king, who is the most important authority,

Submit to all human institutions for the Lord’s sake, alike to the emperor as the supreme authority,

14 and to governors, who are sent by the king {whom the king sends} to punish those who do what is wrong and to commend/honor those who do what is right.

and to governors as the men sent by him to punish evil-doers and to commend those who do right.

15 What God wants is that by your doing [only] what is good you will cause foolish people who do not know [God] to be unable to say things ([to condemn you/to show you why you should be punished]).

For God’s will is this — that you should silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing what is right.

16 Conduct your lives as though you were free [from having to obey authorities], but do not think “Because I am free from having to obey authorities, I can do evil things.” Instead, act as servants of God [should].

Act as free men, yet not using your freedom as those do who make it a cloak for wickedness, but as Servants of God.

17 Act respectfully toward everyone. Love all your fellow believers. Revere God, and honor the king.

Show honour to every one, Love the Brotherhood, ‘revere God, honour the emperor.’

18 You slaves [who are believers], submit yourselves to your masters and completely respect them. Submit yourselves not only to those who [act in a] good and kind [DOU] way towards you, but also submit yourselves to those who [act in a] harsh way [towards you].

Those of you who are domestic servants should always be submissive and respectful to their masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are arbitrary.

19 You should do that because God is pleased with those who, knowing that he is aware of what is happening to them, endure the pain that they suffer [because of being treated unjustly by their masters] {[their masters have treated them unjustly]}.

For this wins God’s approval when, because conscious of God’s presence, a man who is suffering unjustly bears his troubles patiently.

20 God will certainly not [RHQ] be pleased with you if you do something that is wrong and as a result you are beaten {someone beats you}! But if, instead of doing something that is wrong, you do what is good, and as a result of that, you suffer for doing something that is good, and you endure that suffering, God will (commend/be pleased with) you.

What credit can you claim when, after doing wrong, you take your punishment for it patiently? But, on the other hand, if, after doing right, you take your sufferings patiently, that does win the approval of God.

21 One of the reasons why God chose you is that you would [suffer]. When Christ suffered for you, he became an example for you, in order that you would (imitate what/do like) he did.

For it was to this that you were called! For Christ, too, suffered — on your behalf — and left you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

22 [Remember how Christ conducted himself]: He never sinned, And he never said [MTY] anything to deceive people.

He ‘never sinned, nor was anything deceitful ever heard from his lips.’

23 When people insulted him, he did not insult them in return. When people caused him to suffer, he did not threaten (to get revenge/to cause them to suffer). Instead, he decided to let God, who always judges justly, prove that he (was innocent/had done nothing that is wrong) (OR, he left his case in the hands of God, who always judges justly).

He was abused, but he did not answer with abuse; he suffered, but he did not threaten; he entrusted himself to him whose judgments are just.

24 He himself endured physically the punishment for our sins when he died on the cross, in order that we would stop sinning (OR, no longer respond to sinful desires) and start living righteous lives. It is because he was wounded {they wounded him} that your [souls have been saved] [MET] [from being sinful, as people’s bodies] are healed [from being sick].

And he ‘himself carried our sins’ in his own body to the cross, so that we might die to our sins, and live for righteousness. ‘His bruising was your healing.’

25 Truly you were like sheep that had gone astray [SIM], but now you have returned to [Jesus], who cares for your souls [as] a shepherd [cares for his sheep] [MET].

Once you were straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.