1 Peter 3:8-22
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Do No Evil
8 Now finally, all of you should be like-minded and sympathetic, should love believers,[a](A) and be compassionate(B) and humble,[b] 9 not paying back evil for evil(C) or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing,(D) since you were called for this, so that you can inherit a blessing.
10 For the(E) one who wants to love life
and to see good days
must keep his tongue from evil(F)
and his lips from speaking deceit,(G)
11 and he must turn away(H) from evil
and do what is good.
He must seek peace(I) and pursue it,
12 because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and His ears are open to their request.
But the face of the Lord is against
those who do what is evil.[c]
Undeserved Suffering
13 And who will harm[d] you if you are deeply committed to what is good?[e] 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness,(J) you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear(K) or be disturbed,(L)[f] 15 but honor[g] the Messiah[h] as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason[i] for the hope that is in you.(M) 16 However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear,[j][k](N) so that when you are accused,[l] those who denounce your Christian life[m] will be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer(O) for doing good, if that should be God’s will,[n] than for doing evil.
18 For Christ also suffered(P) for sins once for all,[o](Q)
the righteous for the unrighteous,[p]
that He might bring you[q] to God,(R)
after being put to death in the fleshly realm[r](S)
but made alive in the spiritual realm.[s]
19 In that state[t] He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits(T) in prison[u] 20 who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah(U) while an ark was being prepared. In it a few—that is, eight people[v](V)—were saved through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh,(W) but the pledge[w] of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.(X) 22 Now that He has gone into heaven,(Y) He is at God’s right hand(Z) with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.(AA)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Peter 3:8 Lit sympathetic, loving the brothers
- 1 Peter 3:8 Other mss read courteous
- 1 Peter 3:12 Ps 34:12-16
- 1 Peter 3:13 Or mistreat, or do evil to
- 1 Peter 3:13 Or you are partisans for the good; lit you are zealots
- 1 Peter 3:14 Is 8:12
- 1 Peter 3:15 Or sanctify; lit set apart
- 1 Peter 3:15 Other mss read set God
- 1 Peter 3:15 Or who demands of you an accounting
- 1 Peter 3:16 Lit good
- 1 Peter 3:16 Or keeping a clear conscience
- 1 Peter 3:16 Other mss read when they speak against you as evildoers
- 1 Peter 3:16 Lit your good behavior in Christ
- 1 Peter 3:17 Lit if the will of God should will
- 1 Peter 3:18 Other mss read died for sins on our behalf; other mss read died for our sins; other mss read died for sins on your behalf
- 1 Peter 3:18 Or the Righteous One in the place of the unrighteous many
- 1 Peter 3:18 Other mss read us
- 1 Peter 3:18 Or in the flesh
- 1 Peter 3:18 Or in the spirit, or in the Spirit
- 1 Peter 3:19 Or In whom, or At that time, or In which
- 1 Peter 3:19 Perhaps fallen supernatural beings or angels; 2Pt 2:4; Jd 6
- 1 Peter 3:20 Lit souls
- 1 Peter 3:21 Or the appeal
1 Peter 3:8-22
The Message
Suffering for Doing Good
8-12 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
Whoever wants to embrace life
and see the day fill up with good,
Here’s what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
run after peace for all you’re worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
listening and responding well to what he’s asked;
But he turns his back
on those who do evil things.
13-18 If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.
19-22 He went and proclaimed God’s salvation to earlier generations who ended up in the prison of judgment because they wouldn’t listen. You know, even though God waited patiently all the days that Noah built his ship, only a few were saved then, eight to be exact—saved from the water by the water. The waters of baptism do that for you, not by washing away dirt from your skin but by presenting you through Jesus’ resurrection before God with a clear conscience. Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies. He’s standing right alongside God, and what he says goes.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson