1 Peter 2

¹Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

²as newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation;

³if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious:

⁴unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious,

⁵ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁶Because it is contained in scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: And he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame.

⁷For you therefore that believe is the preciousness: but for such as disbelieve, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner;

⁸and, A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence; for they stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

⁹But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

¹⁰who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

¹¹Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

¹²having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles; that, wherein they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.