New Testament Plan

¹So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.

²You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.

³You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy — their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.

⁴Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you.

⁵But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead.

⁶That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead — so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit.

⁷The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.

⁸Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.

⁹Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

¹⁰God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

¹¹Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

¹²Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.

¹³Instead, be very glad — for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

¹⁴If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you.

¹⁵If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs.

¹⁶But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!

¹⁷For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News?

¹⁸And also, “If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?”

¹⁹So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.

¹And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you:

²Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly — not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.

³Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.

⁴And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.

⁵In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

⁶So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.

⁷Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

⁸Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

⁹Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

¹⁰In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

¹¹All power to him forever! Amen.

¹²I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother. My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace.

¹³Your sister church here in Babylon sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark.

¹⁴Greet each other with a kiss of love. Peace be with all of you who are in Christ.

¹This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.

²May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

³By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

⁴And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

⁵In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,

⁶and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,

⁷and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

⁸The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

¹⁰So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.

¹¹Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

¹²Therefore, I will always remind you about these things — even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught.

¹³And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live.

¹⁴For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life,

¹⁵so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone.

¹⁶For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes

¹⁷when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”

¹⁸We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place — until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts.

²⁰Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding,

²¹or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.