Suffering for Righteousness' Sake
8 Finally, all of you,
1have unity of mind, sympathy,
2brotherly love,
3a tender heart, and
4a humble mind.
9
5Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary,
6bless, for
7to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
10
For
8"Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking 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 on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
13
Now
9who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?
14
10But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed.
11Have no fear of them,
12nor be troubled,
15
but
13in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,
14always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and
15respect,
16
16having a good conscience, so that,
17when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
17
For
18it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
18
For Christ also
19suffered
20 once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous,
21that he might bring us to God, being put to death
22in the flesh but made alive
23in the spirit,
19
in which he went and
24proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
20
because they formerly did not obey,
25when God's patience waited in the days of Noah,
26while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is,
27eight persons, were brought safely through water.
21
Baptism, which corresponds to this,
28now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but
29as an appeal to God for a good conscience,
30through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22
who has gone into heaven and
31is at the right hand of God,
32with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.