Book of Common Prayer

¹³ Who will do something bad to you if you want to do what is good?

¹⁴ But even if people trouble you because you do right, God will bless you. Do not be afraid of them. And do not be troubled.

¹⁵ Worship Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you about the hope you have. But be gentle and respect him.

¹⁶ Keep your hearts clean. Then when people say wrong things about you, they will be ashamed because they have talked wrongly about your good Christian life.

¹⁷ It is better to have trouble for doing right, if God allows it, than to have trouble for doing wrong.

¹⁸ For Christ died that once because of our wrong ways. He was good and he died for those who were bad. He did this to bring us to God. His body died, but his spirit had new life.

¹⁹ His spirit went and gave his message to people's spirits who were in prison.

²⁰ In the days long ago, they did not obey God. God waited for them to do so while Noah was building the big house on the boat. A few people, only eight, were saved by going through the water.

²¹ The water of baptism is like that. It saves you. It does not save you because it washes dirt from your bodies. But it saves you because you bring yourselves to God with a clean heart. It saves you because Jesus Christ has been raised from death.

²² He has gone up into heaven. He is now at the right side of God. Angels, rulers, and governments obey him.

4 Christ suffered in his body. You also must be ready to have the same trouble happen to you. When a man has suffered in his body, he has stopped doing wrong things.

² For the rest of his life on earth he will not do what people want to do. He will do what God wants him to do.

³ In the time past you did the same things as people who do not believe God. Let that be enough. You did things you should be ashamed of. You did what you wanted to do. You got drunk. You got into fights. You took part in noisy feasting with dancing. You did wrong by worshipping idols.

⁴ Those people are surprised now that you do not do the same wrong things they do. And they say wrong things about you.

⁵ They will have to explain what they are doing. They will have to talk to God about what they have done. He is ready to judge living people and dead people.

⁶ That is why the good news was also told to those who are now dead. They will be judged like men who are alive. This was done so that they could live like God in the spirit.

16 I have told you these things so that you will not turn back.

² The people will put you out of the meeting place. Yes, the time is coming when someone will kill you and think he is working for God.

³ They will do these things because they do not know my Father nor me.

⁴ I have told you all these things now. Then when that time comes, you will remember that I told you about them. `I did not tell you these things in the beginning because I myself was with you.

⁵ But now I am going back to him who sent me here. Yet not one of you is asking me, "Where are you going?"

⁶ Your hearts are very sad because I have told you these things.

⁷ Anyway, I am telling you the truth. It is better for you if I go away. If I do not go away, the one who is to help you will not come to you. But if I go away, I will send him to you.

⁸ `When the Helper comes, he will prove this to the people of the world that they are wrong. They are wrong about what they call bad and about what they call good. He will show them how to be right with God. He will show them about God's judgement.

⁹ He will prove it is a bad thing that they do not believe in me.

¹⁰ He will show what really is right, because I am going to my Father and you will not see me any more.

¹¹ He will show them how to judge right, because the ruler of this world himself will be judged.

¹² `I have many other things to tell you, but you cannot understand them now.

¹³ When the truth-giving Spirit comes, he will show you everything that is true. He will not speak his own message, but he will tell you the things that he has been told to tell you. He will tell you what is going to happen.

¹⁴ He will make my name great. He will take what is mine and tell it to you.

¹⁵ Everything that belongs to my Father belongs to me also. That is why I said, "He will take what is mine and tell it to you."