1 Peter 3:18-22

The Voice

¹⁸ The Anointed One suffered for sins once for all time—the righteous suffering for the unrighteous—so that He might bring us to God. Though He died in the flesh, He was made alive again through the Spirit. ¹⁹ And in the Spirit, He went and preached to those spirits held captive. ²⁰ It was these who long ago lived in disobedience while God waited patiently as Noah was building the ark. At that time, only a tiny band—eight people—was spared from the flood.

²¹ The water through which the ark safely passed symbolizes now the ceremonial washing through baptism^[a] that initiates you into salvation. You are saved not because it cleanses your body of filth but because of your appeal to God from a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King. ²² Now He has entered heaven and sits at the right hand of God as heavenly messengers and authorities and powers submit to His supremacy.