1 Peter 3
1 You women [believers], just like [slaves should submit themselves to their masters], submit yourselves to your husbands. Do that in order that if any of them do not believe the message [about Christ], they may become believers without [it being necessary for] you to say anything to them [about their relationship to God].
In the same way, wives, submit to your own husbands, so that, even if some are disobedient to the word, they will be won without a word by the way you live
2 [They will believe in Christ] when they see that you respect them and that your way of life is pure.
when they observe your pure and reverent conduct.
3 Do not be [trying to make] yourselves beautiful by decorating the outside [of your bodies], such as (by the way you comb your hair/by your hair [style]) or by wearing gold jewelry and fine clothes.
Do not adorn yourselves outwardly with elaborately braided hair, gold jewelry, or fancy clothes.
4 Instead, make your (inner beings/hearts) [beautiful] with qualities/attitudes that will not fade away. Specifically, have a humble and quiet/calm attitude, which is something that God considers to be very valuable.
Rather, let your adornment be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God's sight.
5 (The devout women/The women who habitually worshipped God) who lived long ago and who trusted in God made themselves beautiful [by having attitudes] like that, and by being submissive to their husbands.
For this is how the holy women who hoped in God adorned themselves in the past, by submitting to their own husbands,
6 Sarah, for example, obeyed [her husband] Abraham and called him ‘my master’. You will be [as though you are] [MET] her daughters if you do what is right and are not afraid [of what your husbands or anyone else may do to you because you are believers].
just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You have become her children if you do good and do not give way to fear.
7 You men [who are believers], just like your wives should respect you, you should conduct your lives in an appropriate way with them. Treat them respectfully, realizing that they are [usually] weaker than you are, and realizing that (they share with you/both of you have) the gift [that God has kindly given to you, which is eternal] life. Do this so that nothing will hinder you from praying (OR, hinder [God] ([from answering/from doing what you ask for]) when you pray).
Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker partner, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
8 To end [this part of my letter], [I say to] all of you, agree with each other [in what you think]. Be sympathetic [toward each other]. Love [each other as] members of the same family [should]. Act compassionately [toward each other]. Be humble.
Finally, you must all be of one mind, sympathetic, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, and kind.
9 [When people do] evil things to you or insult you, do not (retaliate/repay them by) doing evil things to them or insulting them. Instead, [ask God to] bless them, because that is what you have been chosen [by God] {what [God] called you} to do, in order that you may receive a blessing [from him].
Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but, on the contrary, bless, knowing that to this you were called, so that you may inherit a blessing.
10 [Consider what the Psalmist wrote about the proper way of conducting our lives], As for those who want (to enjoy life/to live happily) and experience good [things happening to them every] day, they must not say [MTY] something that is evil or say [MTY] something that deceives others.
For, “Whoever wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 They must continually turn away from [doing] anything that is evil, and must do things that are good [instead]. They must deeply desire to enable [people to act] peacefully toward each other; they must zealously [urge people to act in a] peaceful way,
he must turn aside from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.
12 because the Lord sees [MTY] what righteous people do [and he appreciates/likes what they do]. He listens to righteous people when they pray, [and he answers them]. But he is [MTY] opposed to those who do evil things.
For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
13 If you (are eager/try very hard) to do good things, [most people] will not harm you. [RHQ]
Now who will harm you if you become imitators of what is good?
14 But even if you suffer because of [doing] what is right, [God] will bless you. [Do as Isaiah wrote]: “Do not be afraid of people who (threaten you/say things to cause you to be afraid of what they might do to you), and do not worry about [DOU] what they [might do to you].”
But even if you do suffer because of righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear people's threats or be troubled,
15 Instead, acknowledge that Christ is the one who is in complete control [of your lives]. Always be ready to answer everyone who demands that you tell them about what you confidently expect [God to do for you].
but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Always be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks you for an explanation of the hope you have within you, with gentleness and respect,
16 But answer them humbly and respectfully, and make sure that you (do/have done) nothing wrong, in order that those who say evil things about you may be ashamed when they see the good way in which you are conducting yourselves because of your relationship with Christ.
keeping a clear conscience, so that, when those who revile your good conduct in Christ speak against you as evildoers, they may be put to shame.
17 [It may be that God wants you] to suffer. But it is better to do good things, [even if you suffer for doing them], than to do evil things and suffer [for doing that].
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is God's will, than to suffer for doing evil.
18 [I say that] because Christ died once for the sake of people who have sinned. He was a righteous person who died for unrighteous people. He died in order that (he might bring us to/we might begin an intimate relationship with) God. [During the time that he had] an ordinary body, he was killed {people killed him}, but [God’s] Spirit caused him to become alive again.
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,
19 The Spirit also helped him as he went to proclaim [God’s victory to the evil] spirits whom God had imprisoned [in the heavens] (OR, to the spirits of those who [had died, and who] were in the place where the spirits of dead people are).
in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 Long ago, during the time that Noah was building a big boat, [those evil spirits] disobeyed God when he waited patiently [PRS] [to see if people would turn from their evil behavior]. Only a few people were saved {[God] saved only a few people} [in that boat]. Specifically, [God] brought only eight persons safely through the waters [of the flood], [while all the others drowned in it].
who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water.
21 That water, [by means of which eight people were saved when God punished the other people] [MET], represents [the water in which we are] baptized [to show that God has] saved us [from being punished]. The water in which we are baptized does not remove dirt from our bodies. Instead, [it shows that] we are requesting [God to assure us] that he has removed our guilt [for having sinned]. And because Jesus Christ became alive again after he died, [we know that God accepted his sacrifice for us and because of that he was able to remove our guilt].
Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves us—not by removing dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 Christ has gone into heaven and is ruling [MTY] in the place of highest honor (next to God/at God’s side), after [God] caused all the evil and powerful spirit beings [DOU] to be made subject to him.
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
