¹⁶ yet do it with gentleness and respect. Maintain a good conscience so that, when you are maligned,^[a] those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.^(A)

¹² Conduct yourselves honorably among the gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.^[a](A)

¹⁸ Pray for us; we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.^(A)

¹⁵ For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish.

⁸ and sound speech that cannot be censured; then any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us.^(A)

¹⁹ For it is a commendable thing if, being aware of God, a person endures pain while suffering unjustly.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely^[a] on my account.^(A)

²¹ And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for^[a] a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,^(A)

Wives and Husbands

3 Wives, in the same way, be subject to your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct,^{(A) 2} when they see the purity and respect of your conduct.

⁵ But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.^(A)