New Testament · 1 Peter

1 Peter 3

Wives and Husbands

(Song of Solomon 1:1–17; Ephesians 5:22–33)

1Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word^a, they may be won without a word through the conduct of their wives — 2when they observe your pure conduct in fear.

3Do not let your adorning be external — the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear — 4but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart^b with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit^c, which in God's sight is very precious. 5For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands,^d 6as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord; and you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

7Likewise, husbands, live with your wives according to knowledge^e, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace^f of life^g, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Turning from Evil

8Finally, all of you — be like-minded, sympathetic, brotherly loving, tender-hearted, courteous;^h 9do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless — knowing that to this you were called, that you may inherit a blessing. 10For "whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;

11let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peaceⁱ and pursue it.
12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

13Now who is there to harm you if you become imitators of what is good?

Suffering for Righteousness

14But even if you should suffer for righteousness^j' sake, you are blessed; have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15but in your hearts^k set apart the Lord God as holy; always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a word about the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and fear. 16Keep your conscience good, so that, when they speak against you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Messiah may be put to shame. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be the will^l of God, than for doing evil.

18For Messiah also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God — put to death in the flesh^m but made alive in the spirit, 19in which He also went and proclaimed to the spiritsⁿ in prison, 20who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few — that is, eight souls^o — were brought safely through water. 21Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves us also — not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Yeshua Messiah, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels and authorities^p and powers^q having been subjected to Him.