New Testament
The First Letter of Peter
The First Letter of Peter is the twenty-first of the 27 books of the New Testament: 5 chapters and 105 verses.
About 1 Peter
About 1 Peter · Letter to exiles
First Peter addresses scattered believers in Asia Minor who were being slandered and socially punished for their new faith, calling them what Israel was called: a chosen race, a royal priesthood, strangers and pilgrims. It comes down from the apostle Peter, written with the help of Silvanus, from the church at Rome under the old code-name Babylon. It was written to teach Christians how to suffer well — without shame, without retaliation, ready always to answer for the hope that is in them — after the pattern of Christ.
| Testament | New Testament — book 21 of 27, 67 of 73 in the Bible |
|---|---|
| Canon | Protocanonical (in every Christian canon) |
| Chapters | 5 |
| Verses | 105, as Bless numbers them |
| Latin | Clementine Vulgate, every chapter |
| Bp. Challoner | Summaries of all 5 chapters · 4 notes |
| Catechism | 37 paragraphs cite it |
Chapter by chapter
All 5 chapters, in brief.
Bishop Richard Challoner’s summary of each chapter, from his revision of the Douay-Rheims (1749–52). Open a chapter for the full text.
1 Peter 1
25 versesHe gives thanks to God for the benefit of our being called to the true faith and to eternal life, into which we are to enter by many tribulations. He exhorts to holiness of life, considering the holiness of God and our redemption by the blood of Christ.
1 Peter 2
25 versesWe are to lay aside all guile and go to Christ the living stone, and, as being now his people, walk worthily of him, with submission to superiors and patience under sufferings.
1 Peter 3
22 versesHow wives are to behave to their husbands. What ornaments they are to seek. Exhortations to divers Virtues.
1 Peter 4
19 versesExhortations to cease from sin, to mutual charity, to do all for the glory of God, to be willing to suffer for Christ.
1 Peter 5
14 versesHe exhorts both priests and laity to their respective duties and recommends to all humility and watchfulness.
Bp. Richard Challoner · chapter summaries
In the comments
What the saints said.
9 quotations from 8 saints linked to passages of 1 Peter in Bless. Each names the work it comes from.
St. Clement of Rome · on 1 Peter 1:19
On this theme
Let us fix our gaze on the blood of Christ and realize how precious it is to His Father, since it was poured out for our salvation and brought the grace of repentance to the whole world.
Letter to the Corinthians, 7, c. 96
St. Leo the Great · on 1 Peter 2:9
On this theme
Christian, recognize your dignity, and now that you share in God's own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition.
Sermon 21 on the Nativity, c. 440
St. Clement of Rome · on 1 Peter 4:8
On this theme
Love unites us to God; love covers a multitude of sins; love bears all things, is long-suffering in all things. There is nothing base, nothing arrogant in love.
Letter to the Corinthians, 49, c. 96
St. Francis de Sales · on 1 Peter 4:10
On this theme
Devotion must be practiced in different ways by the nobleman and by the working man, by the servant and by the prince, by the widow, by the unmarried girl, and by the married woman.
Introduction to the Devout Life, I.3, 1609
St. Gemma Galgani · on 1 Peter 4:13
On this theme
If you really want to love Jesus, first learn to suffer, because suffering teaches you to love.
Letters to Fr. Germano, c. 1901
St. Gregory the Great · on 1 Peter 5:2
On this theme
Let the ruler be, through humility, a companion to those who live well, and through the zeal of righteousness, stern against the vices of the wicked.
Pastoral Rule, II.3, 591
3 more, on the chapter pages
- 1 Peter 5:3St. Augustine of Hippo
- 1 Peter 5:5St. Dominic
- 1 Peter 5:7St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Coming up
Read at Mass.
From October 29, 2026 to October 28, 2027, 1 Peter is read at the principal Mass on 5 days in the US calendar. The next 8 readings:
| Date | Celebration | Reading | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop | Alleluia | 1 Peter 4:14 | |
| First Sunday of Lent | Second Reading | 1 Peter 3:18-22 | |
| Chair of St. Peter, Apostle | First Reading | 1 Peter 5:1-4 | |
| computed | Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time | Alleluia | 1 Peter 4:14 |
| computed | Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time | Alleluia | 1 Peter 1:25 |
| computed | Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time | Alleluia | 1 Peter 4:14 |
| computed | Chair of St. Peter, Apostle | First Reading | 1 Peter 5:1-4 |
| computed | Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | 1 Peter 1:3-9 |
| computed | Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | 1 Peter 1:10-16 |
| computed | St. Mark, Evangelist | First Reading | 1 Peter 5:5b-14 |
| computed | St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church | Alleluia | 1 Peter 4:14 |
| computed | St. John Vianney, Priest | Alleluia | 1 Peter 1:25 |
| computed | Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time | Alleluia | 1 Peter 1:25 |
| computed | Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time | Alleluia | 1 Peter 4:14 |
No more readings are listed here; the liturgical calendar has every date through December 31, 2028.
Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option). Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.