for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Parallel translations
- WEB because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”
- KJV Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
- NKJV because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
- NASB because it is written: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
- NLT For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Peter quotes Leviticus—'You shall be holy, for I am holy'—as the basis for Christian holiness. God's unchanging command to be holy still defines his people.
Overview
Citing Leviticus (11:44-45; 19:2), Peter shows that the call to holiness given to Israel applies to the new covenant people of God. God's own holiness remains the standard and the motive. By rooting his exhortation in Scripture, Peter affirms the continuity of God's moral will and the authority of his Word over Christian conduct.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Lev 11:44For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.
- Lev 19:2“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
- Lev 20:7Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
- Amos 3:3Can two walk together without agreeing where to go?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The lamb without blemish foreknown before the world, who bore our sins in his body on the tree, by whose wounds we are healed — the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.
How 1 Peter 1:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.