[1 Peter]
Cotton Patch Version
1. Rock, Jesus Christ’s agent, to the migrant Christians scattered through Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas and California. With his experienced eye, Father–God handpicked you and created you in his spirit, for washing and processing by Jesus Christ. May kindness and peace bust loose all over you.
3. Three cheers for the Father–God of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his overflowing mercy he has refathered us into a life of hope, based on the raising of Jesus Christ from the dead. This put us in a family that’s unbroken, uncorrupted and undwindling—a spiritual family set up especially for you who are sheltered by God’s power. This power is yours because of your faith in the solution that’s ready to be made crystal clear at the last roundup. Delight in this, even though for a while it is necessary for you to put up with all kinds of harassment. When your faith is tested like this, it is more valuable than perishable gold which also is tested by fire. And at a time when Jesus Christ is clearly present, your faith stands out with commendation, genuineness and respect. You are indescribably happy with One whom you’ve never seen but still love, whom you’ve never caught a glimpse of, but still have faith to live by. As a result of a faith like that you’ll find the answer to your deepest needs. In fact, this is the solution that was sought after and studied over by the old–time preachers who foresaw the undeserved favor that would fall on you. Under the leadership of the spirit of Christ that was in them, they studied hard to find out who would have the credentials of the suffering Christ and when he would appear. And it was made clear to them that the matters they were dealing with were not for them but for you. These very things are now explained to you by those who, in the Holy Spirit from on high, brought the Good News to you. They are things of which angels themselves have a craving to be a part.
13. So, put work clothes on your mind and get moving. Have a grown man’s hope in the spiritual power that’s delivered to you at a time when Jesus Christ is clearly present. Now that you are God’s obedient children, don’t be controlled by the hankering you had before you saw the light. Instead, you should be different in your whole manner of life, just as he who invited you to it is different. For there’s a verse which says, “You all be different, because I am different.”
17. And if you claim as Father the One who utterly disregards a man’s race and is concerned only with the way he acts, then carry out your Christian commitment with fear and trembling. Realize that you were snatched from the emptiness of your traditional ways not by material things—money and jewelry and such stuff—but by the priceless lifeblood of Christ himself, who was as innocent and harmless as a lamb. That he would do this was known from time immemorial, but it came through sharp and clear only recently when you put your trust in God who raised him from the dead and qualified him. That’s why your faith and hope are rooted in God.
22. Now that by your response to the truth you have dedicated your inner lives to genuine brother–love, go ahead and love one another straight from the heart with all you’ve got. For you all have been refathered, not by a mortal man, but by the immortal word of a living and abiding God.
“Every human being is like a blade of
grass,
And his appearance is like a blossom.
The grass dries up, the blossom falls off;
But the Word of the Lord lives on and on.”
Now “the Word” is the Gospel message that was preached to you.
1. So, then, sweep your house clean of all meanness and fibbing and double–dealing and green–eyedness and all cattiness. Like new babies, yell for the pure Gospel milk that’s just right, so that you might get fat and healthy on it. When you got your first taste you saw that the Lord is real nourishing.
4. Gather around him, a live stone which the world architects considered worthless but which God prized as a jewel. And as live stones yourselves, be laid up together into a chapel for the sacred ministry of making acceptable spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. For there’s a verse like this:
“Look, I m laying up a stone in America,
A prized jewel of a cornerstone;
And the man who rests his weight on it
won t be let down.”
Its true worth, then, is for you who rest your weight on it. But for those who don’t, this applies:
“The very stone which the architects threw away
has itself become the key stone.”
Also,
“It’s a stone to stump one’s toe on, a rock to trip over.”
The unconvinced stump their toe on the Word. It’s just their luck. But you all are a special breed, a noble clergy, a different race, a show–stock people, so that you might demonstrate the virtues of the One who called you out of darkness into his dazzling light. “The former nobodies are now God’s somebodies; the outcasts are now included in the family.”
11. Dear ones, I urge you as migrants and transients in a foreign land, to put the brakes on animal passions which tear you to pieces on the inside. Let your manner of life before non–Christians be so good that while they rip into you as criminals they will also get an eyeful of your fine conduct and will give the credit to God on inspection day.
13. Be loyal to anything created by the Lord for the human situation, whether it’s to a king as supreme ruler or to governors as his appointees to punish criminals and to encourage the law–abiding. Such indeed is the will of God, that the law–abiding should put the muzzle on the stupid charges of half–baked people. You are free men, but only as you are God’s slaves. You must not use your freedom as a disguise for evil. Hold all in honor, love the church community, give God glory, respect the King.
18. Employees, with all humility be loyal to your bosses, not only to the kind and considerate but even to the ornery ones. When someone with a God–touched conscience endures the pain of undeserved injury, this indeed is commendable. Now if you take it when you get cussed out for doing something wrong, what’s so great about that? But if you’re doing your job and then put up with abuse, this wins God’s approval. That’s why God chose you. For Christ too suffered for you and set an example for you so you might walk in his tracks. He never did a mean thing, and nobody ever caught him in a lie. When folks cussed him out, he never cussed back; when beat up, he shouted no threats; instead, he put it all in the hands of Him who sets things right. In order that we might shuck off our sins and live a good life, he bore our wrongs on his own shoulders as he hung from the tree. At his flogging you were cured. For you all were wandering aimlessly like sheep, but now you have been corralled by the shepherd and overseer of your hearts.
1. By the same token, ladies, be loyal to your own man, so that even those who are not Christians, when they notice how nobly and humbly you live, will be won over without an argument by the exemplary life of their wives. Don’t let your good looks depend on external things, like fancy hairdos, expensive jewelry and fashionable clothes, but on the inner radiance of a gentle and sweet spirit which does not fade with age. In God’s eyes, this is true beauty. This is exactly the way the saintly women of old who trusted God and were loyal to their men made themselves pretty. Sarah, for instance, yielded herself completely to Abraham and spoke of him as her head. And you are true daughters of Sarah when you do the right thing and are not afraid of just any bugbear.
7. Along the same line, men, conduct your marriage with intelligence. Hold in high esteem your partners of the weaker sex, since they also are joint heirs of the life of grace; otherwise, your prayers won’t reach the ceiling.
8. The whole thing in a nutshell is that you all be agreeable, sympathetic, brotherly, amiable, humble–minded, not paying back wrong for wrong or insult for insult. Instead, you all cool it, because that’s why you were converted—to show that the Lord treats you real cool.
“Anybody who wants to enjoy life,
And live a long time,
Should not let his tongue say a mean thing
Or his lips tell a lie.
He should put the brakes on badness,
And give the throttle to goodness.
He should seek for peace and go all out after it.
For the Lord keeps an eye on the truly good,
And a keen ear toward their prayers.
But for the wicked he has only a frown.”
13. Indeed, who can hurt you if you become fireballs for good? But even if you should get pushed around for what’s right — wonderful! Just don’t be scared of what they’re scared of, and don’t get all upset. Instead, consecrate your hearts wholly to Christ the Lord, being ready at the drop of a hat to give a full explanation of your inner hope to anyone making an inquiry of you. Yet do so with gentleness and respect, keeping a clean conscience, so that when you are attacked, the people who slander the excellent way of life you have in Christ may be ashamed of themselves. For it is a sight better to get hurt for doing right, if God’s will so permits it, than for doing wrong. You know that Christ, too, laid down his life once and for all for your sins — a truly just man dying for unjust men — so as to put us on the right track to God. Though his body was murdered, his spirit was made very much alive. In this state he went and preached also to the spirits in jail who, a long time ago, turned a deaf ear while God patiently called to them during the days that Noah was building the ark. A few souls — eight to be exact — were saved from the flood by the ark.
21. This flood and ark business is sort of a symbol of how baptism now saves you[b1] . It isn’t a riddance of physical filth, but a petition to God, through Jesus Christ’s resurrection, for a fresh conscience. When Christ entered the spiritual realm, all angels, rulers and the high and mighty were placed under his command, and he himself became God’s righthand man.
1. Since Christ took a beating physically, you–all, too, prepare yourselves with the same insight. It’s a plain fact that anybody who takes a physical beating has broken away completely from wickedness, with the result that he no longer spends the rest of his life on earth swayed by society’s expectations but by God’s will. For you have already put in enough time in the past in service to the pagan world, going along with them in sex orgies, stupid cravings, beer guzzlings, wild parties, drinking sprees, and religious flings. They think you are queer now for not buddying up with them in such a flood of asininity, so they poke a lot of fun at you. Okay, they will account for every word to him who is ever on the alert to judge both the living and the dead. That’s why the gospel was preached also to the dead — that they might be judged on the same basis as people who haven’t died, and might live in the spirit according to God’s plan.
7. The goal of everything has come upon us. So get with it and pray like you mean it. Above all, try hard to love each other, because love smooths over a pile of wrongs. Keep your latch–strings on the outside for one another, without griping about it. As responsible handlers of God’s many–sided grace, serve others with whatever gift each has received. If someone has the gift of words, let him share God’s words; if someone has a knack for lay service, let him throw all his God–given strength into it. In every way so live as to be a credit to God through Jesus Christ, to whom is the praise and the power throughout all ages. May it ever be so.
12. Dear ones, don’t consider the bath of fire you’re going through as something unusual, or that an extraordinary thing has happened to you. Instead, let the fact that you are sharing in the sufferings of Christ be a source of real joy to you. Then at the unveiling of his glory your joy will be simply out of this world. You’re especially fortunate when you catch hell just because you are Christians. That’s a sure sign that a beautiful spirit — God s spirit — is roosting in your heart. On the other hand, don’t ever get into trouble as a murderer or a thief or a crook or a meddler in someone else’s business. It’s when you suffer as a Christian that you need never be ashamed. Praise God that you bear such a name!
17. The day of reckoning is going to start off with church people. Now if we are the first ones to be called up, what will be the final outcome of those who have turned a deaf ear to God’s Good News? And if a truly good man barely squeaks by, what are the chances of a hypocrite and a scoundrel? So then, let those who are having a rough time for doing the will of God entrust their hearts fully to the faithful Creator by continuing in their good behavior.
1. Now please let me urge you pastors, since I am your fellow pastor and an actual witness to Christ’s mistreatment, and am also your partner in the dawning Christian era: Be good shepherds of the flock that God has put in your care. Do this gladly before God, and not out of a sense of duty; from the heart and not with an eye on the salary. Don’t lord it over the members, but be examples for the congregation. And when the Head Shepherd arrives, he’ll bestow on you an honorary degree that keeps its luster.
5. Similarly, you assistants be cooperative with the pastors. All of you should wear the jeans of gentleness, because God is dead set against the arrogant, but gives his favor to the humble. So then, bring yourselves low under the hand of Almighty God, that he may stand you on your feet at the proper time. Let him in on all your problems, because you mean much to him.
8. Sober up now, and get with it. That old roaring lion — your adversary, the Devil — is stalking around looking for someone to gobble up. Put steel in your faith and stand up to him, realizing that the brotherhood in other parts of the world is enduring the same kind of persecution. But after you have taken it for a while, the God of all kindness, who through Christ invited you into his marvelous era, will personally make you as good as new. He will make you secure and give you vigor and will undergird you. May He rule the rolling ages. Please may it be so.
12. I have dictated this little letter to you through Silas, whom I consider a reliable brother. I just wanted to spur you on and to add my testimony that this truly is God’s gracious gift. Plant your feet in it.
13. The fellowship here in “the ghetto” sends you greetings, as does my son, Mark. Give each other a big hug of love. To all you Christians — Shalom
Yours,
Rock
[b1]That is. by putting you on board the Christian “ark,” or community.