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1 Wives, similarly, must submit themselves to their husbands. Then,+ even if a believing woman’s husband refuses to believe the message, by his wife’s conduct+ he may be won over without any need for words at all,+
2 when he sees how+ reverently and with what holiness+ she conducts herself.+
3 It is+ not with outward things like elaborate hairstyles and gold jewelry or fine clothes that you wives are to adorn yourselves,
4 but with character on the inside, with the undying beauty of a spirit that is humble+ and peaceful,+ which is in God’s sight so+ very valuable.+
5 It was in this way,+ after all, in times past, that those+ holy+ women, too, who placed their hope in God, used to adorn themselves, by+ submitting to their husbands.
6 Sarah, for instance,+ was obedient to Abraham, calling him master.+ You show yourselves+ to be her daughters when+ you follow her noble example,+ without being afraid of human threats and intimidation.+
7 Husbands, similarly: Your conduct toward your wives must conform to the gospel.+ You must treat them considerately as the weaker+ partner,+ showing them honor and respect as fellow heirs of the gift of coming life.+ Do this so that your prayers will not be ignored.+
8 Finally, all of you are to have the same mindset and are to share each other’s joys and sorrows;+ love one another like family, be compassionate, maintain a humble attitude,
9 not repaying anyone evil for evil or insult for insult, but responding, instead, with blessing. It is+ this kind of patient response,+ you see,+ to which you were summoned,+ of repaying with blessing,+ so that you may a blessing inherit.+
10 For,
“If+ someone longs to possess+ life+ and see blessed+ and joyous+ days,
he must keep his tongue from evil words+
and his lips from deceitful speech.+
11 He must shun evil and do what is good,
he must strive for peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the LORD+ are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their prayers.
But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”+
13 And so+ who can do you any lasting harm+—if it is+ the upright course+ to which you show yourselves devoted?
14 The truth is, if you find yourselves+ suffering because of righteousness, you are blessed. “Do not be afraid+ of them,+ nor be intimidated.+”+
15 The Lord, rather, the Messiah, “is the one+ you must fear and worship, and no other.+”+ In your hearts+ be ready at all times to give an answer to anyone who asks you to explain your hope.+ Yet do this+ with humility and reverence,+
16 keeping your consciences clear,+ so that when you are slandered, those who malign your honorable conduct as followers of the Messiah+ will be made ashamed.
17 It is better to suffer for doing good, you see,+ if it is God’s will, than for doing evil.
18 For the Messiah, too, himself+ experienced undeserved+ suffering, as an offering, once and for all,+ to atone for sins,+ a “righteous+ person for+ the unrighteous,”+ to give you access into the presence of God. Although he was put to death in a lowly mortal body,+ he was brought back to life clothed in the glory of the Spirit,+
19 in which state+ he went and announced his triumph,+ too,+ to the spirits in prison+—
20 to those who disobeyed long ago, when God held back his judgment so+ patiently+ in the time+ of Noah as the ark was being built, in which only+ a few, that is, eight people, were rescued by the waters.+
21 Those waters+ were a foreshadow+ of baptism, by which you, likewise, are yourselves+ rescued in the present era+—not a removal of dirt from the body,+ but an appeal to God for a clear conscience+ on account of+ the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah,+
22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to him.+