1 Similarly also, wives should be subject to their husbands, so that, even if some do not believe the Word, they may benefit without the Word, through the behavior of these wives, 2 as they consider with fear your chaste behavior. 3 For you, there should be no unnecessary adornment of the hair, or surrounding with gold, or the wearing of ornate clothing. 4 Instead, you should be a hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptibility of a quiet and meek spirit, rich in the sight of God. 5 For in this way, in past times also, holy women adorned themselves, hoping in God, being subject to their own husbands. 6 For so Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You are her daughters, well-behaved and unafraid of any disturbance. 7 Similarly, you husbands should live with them in accord with knowledge, bestowing honor on the female as the weaker vessel and as co-heirs of the life of grace, so that your prayers may not be hindered. 8 And finally, may you all be of one mind: compassionate, loving brotherhood, merciful, meek, humble, 9 not repaying evil with evil, nor slander with slander, but, to the contrary, repaying with blessings. For to this you have been called, so that you may possess the inheritance of a blessing. 10 For whoever wants to love life and to see good days should restrain his tongue from evil, and his lips, so that they utter no deceit. 11 Let him turn away from evil, and do good. Let him seek peace, and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and his ears are with their prayers, but the countenance of the Lord is upon those who do evil. 13 And who is it who can harm you, if you are zealous in what is good? 14 And yet, even when you suffer something for the sake of justice, you are blessed. So then, do not be afraid with their fear, and do not be disturbed. 15 But sanctify Christ the Lord in your hearts, being always ready to give an explanation to all who ask you the reason for that hope which is in you. 16 But do so with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, so that, in whatever matter they may slander you, they shall be confounded, since they falsely accuse your good behavior in Christ. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if it is the will of God, than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also died once for our sins, the Just One on behalf of the unjust, so that he might offer us to God, having died, certainly, in the flesh, but having been enlivened by the Spirit. 19 And in the Spirit, he preached to those who were in prison, going to those souls 20 who had been unbelieving in past times, while they waited for the patience of God, as in the days of Noah, when the ark was being built. In that ark, a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. 21 And now you also are saved, in a similar manner, by baptism, not by the testimony of sordid flesh, but by the examination of a good conscience in God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 22 He is at the right hand of God, devouring death, so that we may be made heirs to eternal life. And since he has journeyed to heaven, the Angels and powers and virtues are subject to him.
1 Peter · Catholic Public Domain Version
1 Peter 3 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
Cross references (22)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Colossians 3:18; Ephesians 5:33; Ephesians 5:22–24; 1 Corinthians 11:3; Titus 2:3–6
- 2 1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 1:15; Philippians 1:27; Ephesians 5:33; 2 Peter 3:11
- 3 1 Timothy 2:9–10; Romans 12:2; Isaiah 3:18–24; Titus 2:3–15; Isaiah 61:10
- 4 Colossians 3:12; 1 Samuel 16:7; Matthew 11:29; Romans 2:29; Titus 3:2
- 5 1 Timothy 5:5; Titus 2:3–4; Luke 8:2–3; Proverbs 31:30; 1 Timothy 2:15
- 6 Genesis 18:12; Romans 9:7–9; Daniel 3:16–18; Isaiah 57:11; Acts 4:19
- 7 Colossians 3:19; Genesis 2:23–24; Ephesians 5:25–28; Matthew 19:3–9; 1 Corinthians 7:3
- 8 Romans 12:10; Ephesians 4:31–5:2; 1 Peter 1:22; Philippians 4:8–9; James 3:17
- 9 Romans 12:17; Proverbs 20:22; Romans 12:14; Romans 12:19–21; 1 Thessalonians 5:15
- 10 Psalm 34:12–16; James 1:26; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 Peter 2:1; Revelation 14:5
- 11 Matthew 5:9; Hebrews 12:14; Psalm 34:14; Romans 14:19; Colossians 3:15
- 12 Psalm 34:15–16; John 9:31; Proverbs 15:29; Proverbs 15:3; 2 Chronicles 7:15
- 13 Proverbs 16:7; Romans 8:28; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; 3 John 11; Psalm 38:20
- 14 Matthew 10:28; 1 Peter 2:19–20; Matthew 5:10–12; Isaiah 41:10–14; Isaiah 8:12–13
- 15 Colossians 4:6; 2 Timothy 2:25–26; Luke 21:14–15; 1 Peter 3:2; Matthew 10:18–20
- 16 1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 2:15; Hebrews 13:18; Titus 2:8; Matthew 5:11
- 17 1 Peter 3:14; 1 Peter 4:19; Matthew 26:39; 1 Peter 2:15; 1 Peter 2:20
- 18 Hebrews 9:28; Hebrews 9:26; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 4:6; Titus 2:14
- 19 1 Peter 4:6; Isaiah 61:1; Isaiah 42:7; Isaiah 49:9; Nehemiah 9:30
- 20 Hebrews 11:7; 2 Peter 2:5; Genesis 6:3; Genesis 6:5; Genesis 8:18
- 21 Mark 16:16; Ezekiel 36:25–26; Galatians 3:27; Acts 22:16; Acts 2:38
- 22 Hebrews 9:24; Hebrews 12:2; Ephesians 1:20–21; Hebrews 10:12; Mark 16:19
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… from the dead will raise up us also, if we do His will, and walk in His commandments, and love what He loved, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, evil speaking, false witness; "not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing," or blow for blow, or cursing for cursing, but being mindful of what the Lord …
The possessions of the hidden man of the heart, which in the sight of God are of great price? Did they lose these?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
For this cause then, though He said, "Take no thought what ye shall speak;" yet elsewhere He saith, "Be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." That is, as long as the contest is among friends, He commands us also to take thought; but when there is …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
… Henceforth ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and the rest: in accordance with which the Apostle Peter also writes, By the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
For baptism is "not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God." So in training us for the life that follows on the resurrection the Lord sets out all the manner of life required by the Gospel, laying down for us the law of gentleness, of endurance of wrong, of …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)