I Peter 3:8-22
Finally, all of you, have unity of
mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay
evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this
you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and
see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking
deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue
it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the
righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is
against those who do evil.” Now who is there to harm you if you are
zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness'
sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your
hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense
to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with
gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are
slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if
that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the
unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but
made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in
prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the
days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight
persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this,
now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God
for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone
into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and
powers having been subjected to him.
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