1Pe 3 | EE | STEP |

1 Peter 3

Wives and husbands

1 ^{▼▼This verse is empty because in this translation its contents have been moved to form part of verse 1Pe 3:2.} ^{▼▼In this translation, this verse contains text which in some other translations appears in verses 1Pe 3:1-1Pe 3:2.}2 I need to say the same thing to you wives. You should each obey your own husband. Even if your husband does not believe God’s message about Jesus Christ, you should still respect him. If you do that, he may then turn to God and believe his message. You will not need to tell him what is true. He will see the good way that you live. He will see that you really obey God and that you do what is right.

3 Do not always try to make your bodies beautiful. The way that you prepare your hair does not really make you beautiful. You do not need to wear gold things or beautiful clothes. 4 Instead, think about what you are really like inside yourself. Be patient and do not become angry easily. Then you will never stop being beautiful. If you are beautiful in your spirits, God likes that very much. 5 That was how good women made themselves beautiful many years ago. They trusted God that he would help them. They chose to obey their husbands. 6 Sarah was a woman like that. She obeyed her husband, Abraham. She called him, ‘My master’. So, you wives also should do what is right. Do not let anything make you afraid. Then you will be like true daughters of Sarah. ^{▼▼3:6 Abraham was the ancestor of Israel’s people. Sarah was his wife. See Genesis 11:27-23:20.}

7 You husbands must also live in a good way with your wives. Each of you should be kind to his wife and help her. Remember that she is not as strong as you are. Remember that both of you have received true life from God, because he is kind. So, respect her. Then God will answer you when you pray to him.

Christians must be ready to have trouble, like Christ

8 Now I want to say this to you before I finish my letter. All of you should agree with each other in what you think. You should try to understand how other people are feeling. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be kind to each other. Do not think that you are more important than other people. 9 If people do bad things to you, do not do anything bad to them in return. If people say bad things against you, do not say bad things back to them. Instead, pray that God will be good to those people. That is what God wants you to do. Then you also will receive good things from God. 10 The Bible says this:

‘Do you want to enjoy your life?
Do you want to be happy?
Then you must be careful not to say bad things.
Do not tell any lies.

11 Stop doing anything that is bad.

Instead, do what is good.
Try very much to be friendly with people.
Help people to live in peace with each other.

12 Live in that way, because the Lord sees what everyone does.

He takes care of people who live in a good way.
When they pray, he listens to them.
But the Lord turns away from people who do bad things.’

13 If you always try to do good things, then nobody should hurt you. 14 But somebody might give you trouble, even when you do what is right. If that happens, God will bless you. So, do not be afraid of what people may do to you. Do not worry about it. 15 Instead, always remember that Christ is your Lord. Let him rule how you live. People may ask you, ‘Why do you trust God to help you?’ You must always be ready to answer them about that. 16 But when you tell them, be kind and polite. Do only what you know is right. Then those people will see that you live in a good way because you believe in Christ. When they say bad things against you they will become ashamed. 17 Sometimes God may let you have trouble and pain even when you have done good things. But that is better than if you have trouble and pain because you have done bad things.

18 Christ himself always did what was right. But he received pain on behalf of people who do what is wrong. He died once to take away all those wrong things. He did that to bring you near to God. People killed Christ’s body, but God’s Spirit made him alive again. 19 In this way, he went to the spirits who were in prison. He told them God’s true message. 20 Those were the spirits of people who had refused to obey God long ago. At that time God waited patiently for them to turn to him while Noah was building a big boat. But only a few people agreed to go into that boat. God saved only 8 people when the boat sailed on the deep water. ^{▼▼3:20 The story about Noah and the big boat is in Genesis 6:1-9:17. The ‘spirits who were in prison’ may mean all the people who drowned in the water. Or it may mean angels who did not obey God. See Genesis 6:2.} 21 That shows how God now saves you. It is like a picture of baptism. The water of baptism does not wash dirt from a person’s body. Baptism shows that a person has decided to obey God. He is choosing to do what is right. Baptism saves you because Jesus Christ became alive again after his death. 22 After that, Jesus went into heaven. Now he is sitting at God’s right side. He rules over angels and over everything that has authority and power. ^{▼▼3:22 Jesus sits in heaven at God’s right side. The right side means the most important place. It shows that Jesus has the same authority as his Father.}