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Chapter 1
1 Ἀδελφοί, οὕτως δεῖ ἡμᾶς φρονεῖν περὶ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὡς περὶ θεοῦ, ὡς περὶ κριτοῦ ζώντων καὶ νεκρῶν·
καὶ οὐ δεῖ ἡμᾶς μικρὰ φρονεῖν περὶ τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν. 		Brothers, we ought so to think of Jesus Christ, as we do of God, as of the Judge of living and dead.
And we should not belittle the one who is our salvation.
2 ἐν τῷ γὰρ φρονεῖν ἡμᾶς μικρὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ, μικρὰ καὶ ἐλπίζομεν λαβεῖν·
καὶ οἱ ἀκούοντες ὡς περὶ μικρῶν ἁμαρτάνουσιν, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἁμαρτάνομεν οὐκ εἰδότες, πόθεν ἐκλήθημεν καὶ ὑπὸ τίνος καὶ εἰς ὃν τόπον, καὶ ὅσα ὑπέμεινεν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς παθεῖν ἕνεκα ἡμῶν. 		For when we belittle him, we hope to receive little.
And the ones who listen as concerning little things do wrong; and we ourselves do wrong, not knowing from where and by whom and to what place we were called, and how much suffering Jesus Christ endured for our sakes.
3 τίνα οὖν ἡμεῖς αὐτῷ δώσομεν ἀντιμισθίαν, ἢ τίνα καρπὸν ἄξιον οὗ ἡμῖν αὐτὸς ἔδωκεν; πόσα δὲ αὐτῷ ὀφείλομεν ὅσια; What repayment then will we give to Him, or what fruit is worthy of His own gift to us? And how many godly acts do we owe to Him?
4 τὸ φῶς γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐχαρίσατο, ὡς πατὴρ υἱοὺς ἡμᾶς προσηγόρευσεν, ἀπολλυμένους ἡμᾶς ἔσωσεν. For He freely gave the light to us; as a father, He called us His sons; He saved us when we were perishing.
5 ποῖον οὖν αἶνον αὐτῷ δώσομεν ἢ μισθὸν ἀντιμισθίας ὧν ἐλάβομεν; What kind of praise will we give Him, or payment of recompense for what we received?
6 πηροὶ ὄντες τῇ διανοίᾳ, προσκυνοῦντες λίθους καὶ ξύλα καὶ χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον καὶ χαλκόν, ἔργα ἀνθρώπων·
καὶ ὁ βίος ἡμῶν ὅλος ἄλλο οὐδὲν ἦν εἰ μὴ θάνατος. ἀμαύρωσιν οὖν περικείμενοι καὶ τοιαύτης ἀχλύος γέμοντες ἐν τῇ ὁράσει, ἀνεβλέψαμεν ἀποθέμενοι ἐκεῖνο ὃ περικείμεθα νέφος τῇ αὐτοῦ θελήσει. 		We were disabled in understanding, worshipping stones and stumps and gold and silver and copper alloy, the works of men; and our whole life was nothing else but death. Then while we were enveloped in darkness and our vision was filled with this thick mist; by His will, we recovered our sight, removing the enveloping cloud.
7 ἠλέησεν γὰρ ἡμᾶς καὶ σπλαγχνισθεὶς ἔσωσεν, θεασάμενος ἐν ἡμῖν πολλὴν πλάνην καὶ ἀπώλειαν, καὶ μηδεμίαν ἐλπίδα ἔχοντας σωτηρίας, εἰ μὴ τὴν παρ' αὐτοῦ. For He had mercy on us, and having compassion He saved us, having beheld in us much deception and destruction, even when we had no hope of salvation, except that which came from Him.
8 ἐκάλεσεν γὰρ ἡμᾶς οὐκ ὄντας καὶ ἠθέλησεν ἐκ μὴ ὄντος εἶναι ἡμᾶς. For He called us when we did not exist, and out of nothing He willed us to exist.
Summary
This passage serves as a passionate exhortation to high-minded Christian devotion, reminding believers of the magnitude of Christ's salvation and the profound spiritual transformation they experienced.
Significant Greek Expressions
ὡς περὶ θεοῦ, ὡς περὶ κριτοῦ ζώντων καὶ νεκρῶν ("as of God, as of the Judge of the living and the dead"): An explicit, high-christological assertion early in the text. The author places Jesus on par with God in terms of how believers must conceptualize Him, reinforcing His ultimate authority and eschatological role as judge.

φρονεῖν μικρὰ / μισθὸν ἀντιμισθίας ("to think meanly" / "reward of requital"): The root φρονεῖν (to think, set one's mind upon) anchors the opening argument. To think "small" or "meanly" (μικρὰ) about Christ leads to a trivialized faith and cheapened moral expectations. The term ἀντιμισθία (reward/recompense) emphasizes the reciprocal obligation believers feel toward God.

πηροὶ ὄντες τῇ διανοίᾳ ("blind in our understanding"): A striking metaphor describing the pre-conversion state of idolatry. Πηρός (blind/maimed) combined with διάνοια (mind/intellect) portrays pagan worship not merely as an alternative religious choice, but as a deep cognitive and spiritual blindness ("our whole life was nothing else than death").

ἀνεβλέψαμεν ἀποθέμενοι ἐκεῖνο... νέφος ("we recovered our sight, casting off... that cloud"): Shifting from blindness to illumination, ἀναβλέπω means both physical sight recovery and spiritual awakening. The "cloud" (νέφος) or "mist" (ἀχλύς) visually captures the heavy veil of pagan ignorance lifted purely by divine will (τῇ αὐτοῦ θελήσει).

σπλαγχνισθεὶς ("having compassion" / "moved with deep inward pity"): Derived from σπλάγχνα (the bowels/inward parts), this verb captures deep, visceral, divine empathy. It highlights that salvation originates entirely in God's merciful disposition toward helpless, perishing humanity.

ἐκ μὴ ὄντος εἶναι ἡμᾶς ("out of nothing to bring us into being"): Echoing creatio ex nihilo (creation out of nothing), the author applies this cosmic creative power to spiritual regeneration. God didn't just rescue an existing good; He called humanity into spiritual existence when they essentially "were not" (οὐκ ὄντας).