Πετρου Α΄ 3
1 Ὁμοίως γυναῖκες, ὑποτασσόμεναι τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν, ἵνα καὶ εἴ τινες ἀπειθοῦσιν τῷ λόγῳ, διὰ τῆς τῶν γυναικῶν ἀναστροφῆς ἄνευ λόγου κερδηθήσονται,
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].
2 ἐποπτεύσαντες τὴν ἐν φόβῳ ἁγνὴν ἀναστροφὴν ὑμῶν.
[They will believe in Christ] when they see that you respect them and that your way of life is pure.
3 ὧν ἔστω οὐχ ὁ ἔξωθεν ἐμπλοκῆς τριχῶν καὶ περιθέσεως χρυσίων ἢ ἐνδύσεως ἱματίων κόσμος,
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.
4 ἀλλ’ ὁ κρυπτὸς τῆς καρδίας ἄνθρωπος ἐν τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ τοῦ πραέως καὶ ἡσυχίου πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστιν ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ πολυτελές.
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.
5 οὕτως γάρ ποτε καὶ αἱ ἅγιαι γυναῖκες αἱ ἐλπίζουσαι εἰς Θεὸν ἐκόσμουν ἑαυτάς, ὑποτασσόμεναι τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν,
(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.
6 ὡς Σάρρα ὑπήκουσεν τῷ Ἀβραάμ, κύριον αὐτὸν καλοῦσα· ἧς ἐγενήθητε τέκνα ἀγαθοποιοῦσαι καὶ μὴ φοβούμεναι μηδεμίαν πτόησιν.
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].
7 Οἱ ἄνδρες ὁμοίως συνοικοῦντες κατὰ γνῶσιν ὡς ἀσθενεστέρῳ σκεύει τῷ γυναικείῳ, ἀπονέμοντες τιμήν ὡς καὶ συνκληρονόμοις χάριτος ζωῆς, εἰς τὸ μὴ ἐνκόπτεσθαι τὰς προσευχὰς ὑμῶν.
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).
8 Τὸ δὲ τέλος πάντες ὁμόφρονες, συμπαθεῖς, φιλάδελφοι, εὔσπλαγχνοι, ταπεινόφρονες,
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.
9 μὴ ἀποδιδόντες κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ ἢ λοιδορίαν ἀντὶ λοιδορίας, τοὐναντίον δὲ εὐλογοῦντες, ὅτι εἰς τοῦτο ἐκλήθητε ἵνα εὐλογίαν κληρονομήσητε.
[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].
10 ὁ γὰρ θέλων ζωὴν ἀγαπᾶν καὶ ἰδεῖν ἡμέρας ἀγαθὰς παυσάτω τὴν γλῶσσαν ἀπὸ κακοῦ καὶ χείλη τοῦ μὴ λαλῆσαι δόλον,
[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.
11 ἐκκλινάτω δὲ ἀπὸ κακοῦ καὶ ποιησάτω ἀγαθόν, ζητησάτω εἰρήνην καὶ διωξάτω αὐτήν·
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,
12 ὅτι ὀφθαλμοὶ Κυρίου ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ὦτα αὐτοῦ εἰς δέησιν αὐτῶν, πρόσωπον δὲ Κυρίου ἐπὶ ποιοῦντας κακά.
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.
13 Καὶ τίς ὁ κακώσων ὑμᾶς ἐὰν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ζηλωταὶ γένησθε;
If you (are eager/try very hard) to do good things, [most people] will not harm you. [RHQ]
14 ἀλλ’ εἰ καὶ πάσχοιτε διὰ δικαιοσύνην, μακάριοι. τὸν δὲ φόβον αὐτῶν μὴ φοβηθῆτε μηδὲ ταραχθῆτε,
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].”
15 Κύριον δὲ τὸν Χριστὸν ἁγιάσατε ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν, ἕτοιμοι ἀεὶ πρὸς ἀπολογίαν παντὶ τῷ αἰτοῦντι ὑμᾶς λόγον περὶ τῆς ἐν ὑμῖν ἐλπίδος,
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].
16 ἀλλὰ μετὰ πραΰτητος καὶ φόβου, συνείδησιν ἔχοντες ἀγαθήν, ἵνα ἐν ᾧ καταλαλεῖσθε καταισχυνθῶσιν οἱ ἐπηρεάζοντες ὑμῶν τὴν ἀγαθὴν ἐν Χριστῷ ἀναστροφήν.
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.
17 κρεῖττον γὰρ ἀγαθοποιοῦντας, εἰ θέλοι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, πάσχειν ἢ κακοποιοῦντας.
[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].
18 ὅτι καὶ Χριστὸς ἅπαξ περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπέθανεν, δίκαιος ὑπὲρ ἀδίκων, ἵνα ὑμᾶς προσαγάγῃ τῷ Θεῷ, θανατωθεὶς μὲν σαρκὶ ζωοποιηθεὶς δὲ πνεύματι·
[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.
19 ἐν ᾧ καὶ τοῖς ἐν φυλακῇ πνεύμασιν πορευθεὶς ἐκήρυξεν,
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).
20 ἀπειθήσασίν ποτε ὅτε ἀπεξεδέχετο ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ μακροθυμία ἐν ἡμέραις Νῶε κατασκευαζομένης κιβωτοῦ, εἰς ἣν ὀλίγοι, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ὀκτὼ ψυχαί, διεσώθησαν δι’ ὕδατος.
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].
21 ὃ καὶ ὑμᾶς ἀντίτυπον νῦν σῴζει βάπτισμα, οὐ σαρκὸς ἀπόθεσις ῥύπου ἀλλὰ συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς ἐπερώτημα εἰς Θεόν, δι’ ἀναστάσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ,
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].
22 ὅς ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ Θεοῦ, πορευθεὶς εἰς οὐρανόν, ὑποταγέντων αὐτῷ ἀγγέλων καὶ ἐξουσιῶν καὶ δυνάμεων.
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.
