1 Now I’m talking to you Christian leaders. I am a leader too, and I was with Jesus Christ, and I saw him get trouble. I saw people blame him by telling lies, and I saw them kill him. But, later, he will show everyone that he is great, and I will be there too, and I will be happy there with him.

2 You church leaders have to look after God’s people. God gave you the job to look after them, so you have to do it properly, like a man with sheep looks after them properly. God wants you leaders to be happy while you do that job. Don’t just do it because you think you have to, or because you want money. Do it because you want to help God’s people.[a] 3 Don’t be bossy. Instead, show them how to follow Jesus. You have to follow Jesus properly, so they will see the way you follow him, and they will follow him properly too.

4 Then, later, Jesus will come back, and he will be happy with your work, and he will make you great, for ever. He is the leader of all of us, and he looks after us properly.

5 Listen, you young people, it is like this. You have to listen carefully to your Christian leaders. Don’t think you are great or more important than other people. Think about what God says in his book. He says,

6 God is great and powerful, so remember that you are not important at all. Wait for him, and at the right time, he will get everybody to respect you.[c] 7 God loves you, and he is looking after you, so tell him about everything that makes you sad, or angry, or worried, and trust him to look after you properly.

8 You have to think clearly and watch out for your enemy, the devil. He is the boss over all the bad spirits, and he is going around looking for people to trick. He is like a wild animal that is going around and looking for somebody to kill and eat. 9 Don’t listen to him, but fight back against him. Trust Jesus properly, and keep on trusting him. Remember, you are not alone. All over the world your Christian friends are getting trouble, just like you are. They follow Jesus, so bad people give them trouble too.

10 But trouble doesn’t last for ever. After you have trouble for a short time, God will be good to you. He will make everything right for you and make you properly strong for him. He picked you to join you up with Jesus Christ. He did that so that, in the end, you will be very great with Jesus for ever. 11 God is very powerful now, and he will keep on being very powerful for ever. That’s true.

12 This is just a short letter to you. Silas helped me write it. He is our good Christian friend, and he follows Jesus properly. I want you to be happy and strong, so I’m writing this letter to you. And I want you to remember that God is very good, so keep on thinking about how good he is. Then you will keep on trusting him.[d]

13 The people in the church here, in this city that we sometimes call Babylon, they say hello to you. God has made them his family, just like you. And do you remember Mark? He is here with me, and he is like a son to me. He says hello to you too.[e]

14 Whenever you meet together, show that you are happy to see each other, because you love each other.

I ask God to make all you Christians happy and quiet inside yourselves.

From Peter

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