1 Peter 3
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · AD 62 – AD 65 · The early church · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
22 verses · 513 words · ~3 min read · ~3 min listen
Wives and Husbands
1Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives 2when they see your pure and reverent demeanor.
3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes, 4but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in Godʼs sight. 5For this is how the holy women of the past adorned themselves. They put their hope in God and were submissive to their husbands, 6just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. And you are her children if you do what is right and refuse to give way to fear.
7Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
Turning from Evil
8Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble. 9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10For,
13Who can harm you if you are zealous for what is good?
Suffering for Righteousness
14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.” 15But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ. 17For it is better, if it is Godʼs will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit, 19in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison 20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water. 21And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
Footnotes (6)
- a v12 Psalms 34:12–16(see also LXX)
- b v14 Or “Do not fear their threats; do not be shaken.” Isaiah 8:12
- c v15 BYZ and TR But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. This sentence may also be included with the quotation from the previous verse; see Isaiah 8:13.
- d v18 NE and WH died
- e v19 Or in the spirit, 19 in which
- f v21 Or appeal for
Study notes on this chapter · 1
Noah's flood and baptism
Peter says that in the ark a few people were saved through water, and that baptism corresponds to this (the Greek word antitypos means 'corresponding' or 'answering'). Jesus also compares the days of Noah to the days of the Son of Man, and Peter elsewhere cites the flood as an example of judgment.
When: Genesis (primeval history); 1 Peter, c. AD 60–65.
Ways people read this (2)
- Peter stresses the saving power of God through water and the resurrection, not the water itself.
- Traditions differ on what baptism accomplishes, but most read the flood as a pattern of judgment and salvation.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.