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Peter, an Apostle of Iesus Christ, to them that dwell here and there as straungers, throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia:
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Elect accordyng to the foreknoweledge of God the father, vnto the sanctifiyng of the spirite, through obedience & sprinklyng of ye blood of Iesus Christ: Grace & peace be multiplied vnto you.
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Blessed be God the father of our Lorde Iesus Christe, which accordyng to his aboundaunt mercie begat vs agayne vnto a lyuely hope, by that that Iesus Christe rose agayne from death,
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To an inheritaunce immortall, and vndefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserued in heauen for you,
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Which are kept by the power of God through fayth vnto saluation, which is prepared alredie to be shewed in the last tyme.
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In the which ye reioyce, though nowe for a season (yf nede require) ye are in heauinesse through manifolde temptations:
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That the triall of your fayth, beyng much more precious then golde that perisheth, though it be tried with fyre, myght be founde vnto laude, glorie, and honour, at the appearyng of Iesus Christe,
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Whom ye haue not seene, and yet loue hym, in whom euen nowe though ye see hym not, yet do you beleue, & reioyce with ioy vnspeakeable and glorious:
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Receauyng the ende of your fayth, euen the saluation of your soules.
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Of which saluation haue ye prophetes enquired & searched, which prophesied of the grace that should come vnto you:
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Searchyng when or at what tyme the spirite of Christ which was in them, shoulde signifie, which spirite testified before, the passions that should happen vnto Christe, and the glorie that shoulde folowe after.
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Unto which prophetes it was also declared, that not vnto them selues, but vnto vs, they shoulde minister ye thinges which are nowe shewed vnto you of them, which by the holy ghost sent downe from heauen, haue in the Gospell preached vnto you, the thynges which the Angels desire to beholde.
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Wherfore girde vp the loynes of your mynde, be sober, and trust perfectly on the grace that is brought vnto you, by the reuelation of Iesus Christe:
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As obedient chyldren, not fashionyng your selues vnto the former lustes of your ignoraunce:
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But as he which called you is holy, euen so be ye holy also in all maner of conuersation:
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Because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy.
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And yf so be that ye call on the father, which without respect of person iudgeeth accordyng to euery mans worke, see that ye passe the tyme of your dwellyng here, in feare:
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Forasmuch as ye knowe, howe that ye were not redeemed with corruptible thynges, as siluer and golde, from your vayne conuersation which ye receaued by the tradition of the fathers:
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But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lambe vndefiled, & without spot:
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Which was ordeyned beforehande, euen before the worlde was made, but was declared in the last tymes for your sakes:
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Which by his meanes do beleue on God that raysed hym vp from death, and glorified hym, that ye might haue fayth and hope towarde God:
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Euen ye which haue purified your soules through the spirite in obeying the trueth, with brotherly loue vnfayned, see that ye loue one another with a pure heart feruentlye:
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For ye are borne a newe, not of mortal seede: but of immortal, by the worde of God, which lyueth and lasteth for euer.
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For all fleshe is as grasse, and all the glorie of man, is as the flowre of grasse.
The grasse withereth, and the flowre falleth away:
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But the worde of the Lorde endureth euer.
And this is the worde, which by the Gospell was preached vnto you.