1Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
4As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,
5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
7To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
8and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.