Passage

1 Peter 1.14

Book: 1 Peter · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"12. To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven; which things angels desire to look into. 13. Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;"

"14. as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance:"

"15. but like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; 16. because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:12-16, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"12. To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, they ministered these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into. 13. Therefore prepare your minds for action, be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ ,"

"14. as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance,"

"15. but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; 16. because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”" (1 Peter 1:12-16, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"12. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 13. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ^{to the end: Gr. perfectly}"

"14. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:"

"15. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16. Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:12-16, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"12. to whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to us they were ministering these, which now were told to you (through those who did proclaim good news to you,) in the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, to which things messengers do desire to bend looking. 13. Wherefore having girded up the loins of your mind, being sober, hope perfectly upon the grace that is being brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ,"

"14. as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves to the former desires in your ignorance,"

"15. but according as He who did call you [is] holy, ye also, become holy in all behaviour, 16. because it hath been written, 'Become ye holy, because I am holy;'" (1 Peter 1:12-16, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Peter (1 Peter is the apostle Peter's letter; the Petrine-authorship has substantial first- and second-century attestation)
Audience: scattered believers across Asia Minor (1 Pet 1:1, "sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia")
Location: likely composed in Rome (1 Pet 5:13's "Babylon" = Rome in apocalyptic-coded usage)
Time period: c. AD 62-64, likely during the Neronian persecution of Rome

Theological reading

1 Peter 1:14 deploys the Hebraic idiomatic construction tekna hypakoēs, "children of obedience", naming the believer's identity in terms of the dispositional-relational quality of obedience. The Hebraic genitive-of-character ("children of X" = "those characterized by X") is the same construction as "sons of disobedience" (Eph 2:2, huioi tēs apeitheias) and "children of wrath" (Eph 2:3, tekna phusei orgēs); it names the believer's constituting-character rather than mere biological parentage.

The verse sits at the structural turn of 1 Pet 1, between (a) the indicative of the believer's identity in Christ (1:3-12, the new birth, the inheritance, the salvation-being-revealed) and (b) the imperative of holiness flowing from that identity (1:13-2:3). Verse 14's hypakoēs names the identity-marker that grounds the holiness-imperative of vv. 15-16. The believer is not called to obedience as a path to becoming Christ's; the believer is constituted as Christ's and therefore lives the obedience-flowing-from-that-identity.

The contrast is sharp: "not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance" (mē syschēmatizomenoi tais proteron en tē agnoia hymōn epithymiais). The mē syschēmatizomenoi echoes Paul's mē syschēmatizesthe tō aiōni toutō ("be not fashioned according to this world", Rom 12:2), with the same root and the same theological force: the believer's transformed-identity rules out the outward-conforming-to the pre-conversion life. The Petrine framing aligns the hypakouō-identity with the holiness-not-conformity doctrine that runs through the broader-NT-sanctification architecture.

Patristic, Reformed, and Wesleyan-Holiness traditions all engage this verse at the foundation of the sanctification-as-outworking-of-identity doctrine. The believer's hypakouō (verb / noun) is not a moral-achievement; it is the outworking of the new-creational identity established in regeneration. The Petrine corpus (1 Peter + 2 Peter) consistently frames obedience this way: 1 Pet 1:2 (hypakoēn in the Trinitarian-soteriological frame), 1:14 (the identity-marker here), 1:22 (the obedience-purifying-the-soul), and the verbal forms across 3:6, 4:17.

Key words

G5218 - hypakoe, the noun hypakoē (G5218), here in the genitive hypakoēs forming the Hebraic genitive-of-character "children-of-obedience." See also G5219 - hypakouo for the verbal cognate.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.