Study Desk

for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers,

He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,

For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority,

For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.

Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.

For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.

But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands,

For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear ; do not be frightened."