I Peter I:3-9 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his
great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that
can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through
faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that
is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly
rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief
in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of
greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may
be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus
Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him;
and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are
filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the
goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
