# You also are ... being built up to be a spiritual house
Just as people used stones to build the temple in the Old Testament, believers are the materials that God is using to build a house in which he will live. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
# You also are like living stones
Peter compares his readers to stones that are alive. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-simile]])
This can be stated in active form. Alternate translation: "that God is building into a spiritual house" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])