The New Testament

The New Testament › 1 Peter

1 Peter 3

1Likewise, wives, submit to your own husbands, so that even if some disobey the word, they may be won without a word through their wives' conduct 2when they observe your pure conduct in fear. 3Let your adornment be not the outward kind—braiding hair, putting on gold, or wearing clothes—4but the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God's sight. 5For this is how the holy women who hoped in God once adorned themselves, submitting to their own husbands, 6as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You have become her children if you do good and do not fear any terror.

7Husbands, likewise, live with your wives with understanding, honoring the woman as the weaker vessel and as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

8Finally, all of you, be of one mind, sympathetic, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, and humble, 9not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but instead blessing, because you were called to this, so that you might inherit a blessing. 10For “Whoever wants to love life and see good days must keep the tongue from evil and the lips from speaking deceit, 11must turn away from evil and do good, must seek peace and pursue it. 12For the Lord's eyes are on the righteous and his ears attend to their plea, but the Lord's face is against those who do evil.”

13Who will harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear their fear or be troubled, 15but regard Christ the Lord as holy in your hearts, always ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for an account of the hope within you, 16yet with gentleness and fear, keeping a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who abuse your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in flesh but made alive in spirit, 19in which he also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20who formerly disobeyed, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah while an ark was being prepared. In it a few—that is, eight souls—were brought safely through water. 21Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you—not the removal of dirt from flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who is at God's right hand, having gone into heaven, with angels, authorities, and powers subjected to him.

Translation notes 6

3:1–6 — Conduct and adornment. “Without a word” concerns winning disobedient husbands through conduct; it is not a general prohibition on women's speech. Fear most naturally relates to God in the letter's wider argument, though respect toward husbands is another reading. “Beauty” is supplied in verse 4. The contrast with inward adornment includes clothing itself; no word meaning “expensive” occurs here. Sarah's address recalls Genesis 18:12.

3:7 — The weaker vessel. The Greek retains both a female designation and a comparison of weakness. Physical and social vulnerability are plausible aspects; it does not say “less intelligent” or “less faithful.” The vessel image is preserved alongside the explicit requirement of honor and shared inheritance. The final “your” is plural, addressing the husbands.

3:8–12 — Brothers and blessing. Loving as brothers describes family affection across the community, including women. The quotation follows Psalm 34:12–16 as used here. The connection between being called to bless and inheriting blessing remains intact.

3:14–16 — Fear and Christ as Lord. “Their fear” can mean the fear they cause or what they themselves fear; the wording echoes Isaiah 8:12–13. The base reads “Christ” in verse 15; another textual reading has “God.” Fear in verse 16 can be reverence toward God or respect in addressing others; the text leaves its object unstated.

3:18–20 — Flesh, spirit, and prison. “Suffered” and “died” are competing textual readings; the base has “suffered.” “In spirit” can describe risen spiritual life; “by the Spirit” is another interpretation. The identity of the imprisoned spirits, the time of the proclamation, and its content are disputed. Major readings concern fallen spirits associated with Noah's age, deceased humans, or Christ preaching through Noah to people now dead. The text says “made proclamation,” without explicitly saying that he offered salvation or naming the prison Hades.

3:21 — Baptism and conscience. The saving statement is retained with its own qualification and its grounding in Jesus' resurrection. “Appeal to God for a good conscience” is provisional; “pledge to God from a good conscience” is a substantial alternative. “Corresponds to this” expresses the relation between baptism and the preceding water-and-rescue account, without adding a complete sacramental explanation.