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Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,
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as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
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if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
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Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
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you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
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Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."
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Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,"
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and "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
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But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
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who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
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Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,
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having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
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Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme,
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or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.
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For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men--
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as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.