To Older and Younger Believers
1I’m speaking to the elders among you. I was a witness of Christ’s sufferings. And I will also share in the glory that is going to come. I’m making my appeal to you as one who is an elder together with you. 2Be shepherds of God’s flock, the believers under your care. Watch over them, though not because you have to. Instead, do it because you want to. That’s what God wants you to do. Don’t do it because you want to get money in dishonest ways. Do it because you really want to serve. 3Don’t act as if you were a ruler over those under your care. Instead, be examples to the flock. 4The Chief Shepherd will come again. Then you will receive the crown of glory. It is a crown that will never fade away.
5In the same way, I’m speaking to you who are younger. Follow the lead of those who are older. All of you, put on a spirit free of pride toward one another. Put it on as if it were your clothes. Do this because Scripture says,
“God opposes those who are proud.
But he gives grace to those who are humble.” (Proverbs 3:34)
6So make yourselves humble. Put yourselves under God’s mighty hand. Then he will honor you at the right time. 7Turn all your worries over to him. He cares about you.
8Be watchful and control yourselves. Your enemy the devil is like a roaring lion. He prowls around looking for someone to swallow up. 9Stand up to him. Remain strong in what you believe. You know that you are not alone in your suffering. The family of believers throughout the world is going through the same thing.
10God always gives you all the grace you need. So you will only have to suffer for a little while. Then God himself will build you up again. He will make you strong and steady. And he has chosen you to share in his eternal glory because you belong to Christ. 11Give him the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
12I consider Silas to be a faithful brother. With his help I have written you this short letter. I have written it to encourage you. And I have written to speak the truth about the true grace of God. Remain strong in it.
13The members of the church in Babylon send you their greetings. They were chosen together with you. Mark, my son in the faith, also sends you his greetings.
14Greet each other with a kiss of friendship.
May God give peace to all of you who believe in Christ.
ለሽማግሌዎችና ለጕልማሶች የተሰጠ ምክር
1እንግዲህ ከእነርሱ ጋር እኔም ሽማግሌና የክርስቶስ መከራ ምስክር የሆንሁ፣ እንዲሁም ወደ ፊት የሚገለጠው ክብር ተካፋይ የምሆን፣ በመካከላችሁ ያሉትን ሽማግሌዎች እመክራቸዋለሁ፤ 2በእናንተ ኀላፊነት ሥር ያለውን የእግዚአብሔርን መንጋ ጠብቁ፤ የምትጠብቁትም ከእግዚአብሔር እንደሚጠበቅባችሁ በግድ ሳይሆን በፈቃደኝነት፣ ለጥቅም በመስገብገብ ሳይሆን ለማገልገል ባላችሁ ጽኑ ፍላጎት ይሁን፤ 3እንዲሁም በዐደራ ለተሰጣችሁ መንጋ መልካም ምሳሌ በመሆን እንጂ በላያቸው በመሠልጠን አይሁን። 4የእረኞች አለቃ በሚገለጥበት ጊዜ የማይጠፋውን አክሊል ትቀበላላችሁ።
5ጕልማሶች ሆይ፤ እናንተም እንዲሁ ለሽማግሌዎች ተገዙ፤ ሁላችሁም እርስ በርስ በመከባበር ትሕትናን ልበሱ፤ ምክንያቱም፣
“እግዚአብሔር ትዕቢተኞችን ይቃወማል፤
ለትሑታን ግን ጸጋን ይሰጣል።”
6ስለዚህ እርሱ በወሰነው ጊዜ ከፍ እንዲያደርጋችሁ ከእግዚአብሔር ብርቱ እጅ በታች ራሳችሁን ዝቅ አድርጉ፤ 7እርሱ ስለ እናንተ ስለሚያስብ የሚያስጨንቃችሁን ሁሉ በእርሱ ላይ ጣሉት።
8ራሳችሁን የምትገዙ ሁኑ፣ ንቁም፤ ጠላታችሁ ዲያብሎስ የሚውጠውን በመፈለግ እንደሚያገሣ አንበሳ ወዲያ ወዲህ ይዞራልና። 9በዓለም ዙሪያ ያሉት ወንድሞቻችሁ ተመሳሳይ መከራ እንደሚቀበሉ ዐውቃችሁ በእምነት ጸንታችሁ ተቃወሙት።
10በክርስቶስ ወደ ዘላለም ክብሩ የጠራችሁ የጸጋ ሁሉ አምላክ፣ ለጥቂት ጊዜ መከራ ከተቀበላችሁ በኋላ እርሱ ራሱ መልሶ ያበረታችኋል፤ አጽንቶም ያቆማችኋል። 11ኀይል ከዘላለም እስከ ዘላለም ለእርሱ ይሁን፤ አሜን።
የስንብት ሰላምታ
12እንደ ታማኝ ወንድም በምቈጥረው በስልዋኑስ5፥12 ወይም ሲላስ አማካይነት ይህን ዐጭር መልእክት ጽፌላችኋለሁ፤ የጻፍሁላችሁም ልመክራችሁና ይህ እውነተኛ የእግዚአብሔር ጸጋ መሆኑን ልመሰክርላችሁ ብዬ ነው። በዚህ ጸጋ ጸንታችሁ ቁሙ።
13ከእናንተ ጋር የተመረጠችው፣ በባቢሎን የምትገኘው5፥13 በአንዳንድ ጥንታዊ ቅጆች ላይ በባቢሎን የምትገኘው ቤተ ክርስቲያን ይላሉ። ሰላምታ ታቀርብላችኋለች፤ እንዲሁም ልጄ ማርቆስ ሰላምታ ያቀርብላችኋል።
14በፍቅር አሳሳም እርስ በርሳችሁ ሰላምታ ተሰጣጡ።
በክርስቶስ ላላችሁ ለሁላችሁ ሰላም ይሁን።
