Outline
Greetings (1:1-2)Praise to God for His Grace and Salvation (1:3-12)Exhortations to Holiness of Life (1:13;5:11)The Requirement of Holiness (1:13;2:3)The Position of Believers (2:4-12)Submission to Authority (2:13;3:7)- Duties of All (3:8-17)
- Christ's Example (3:18;4:6)
- Conduct in View of the End of All Things (4:7-11)
- Conduct of Those Who Suffer for Christ (4:12-19)
Conduct of Elders (5:1-4)Conduct of the Young (5:5-11)
The Purpose of the Letter (5:12)Final Greetings and Benediction (5:13-14)
1 Peter 3 NLT
8 Finally, all of you should be of one
mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be
tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.
9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t
retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a
blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his
blessing.
10 For the Scriptures say, “If you want
to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and
your lips from telling lies.
11 Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
12 The eyes of the LORD watch over those
who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the LORD turns his
face against those who do evil.”
13 Now, who will want to harm you if you
are eager to do good?
14 But even if you suffer for doing what
is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats.
15 Instead, you must worship Christ as
Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be
ready to explain it.
16 But do this in a gentle and
respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you,
they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong
to Christ.
17Remember, it is better to suffer for doing
good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!
18 Christ suffered for our sins once for
all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to
God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.
19 So he went and preached to the
spirits in prison—
20those who disobeyed God long ago when God
waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved
from drowning in that terrible flood.
21 And that water is a picture of
baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a
response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
22 Now Christ has gone
to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels
and authorities and powers accept his authority.
1 Peter 4 NLT
1 So then, since Christ suffered
physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be
ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have
finished with sin.
2 You won’t spend the rest of your
lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of
God.
3 You have had enough in the past of
the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their
feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of
idols.
4 Of course, your former friends are
surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive
things they do. So they slander you.
5 But remember that they will have to
face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the
dead.
6 That is why the Good News was
preached to those who are now dead —so although they were destined to die like
all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit.
7The end of the world is coming soon.
Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.
8 Most important of all, continue to
show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
9 Cheerfully share your home with those
who need a meal or a place to stay.
10 God has given each of you a gift from
his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
11 Do you have the gift of speaking?
Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the
gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God
supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.
All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at
the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening
to you.
13 Instead, be very glad—for these
trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have
the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the
world.
14 If you are insulted because you bear
the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests
upon you.
15 If you suffer, however, it must not
be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s
affairs.
16 But it is no shame to suffer for
being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his
name!
17 For the time has come for judgment,
and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what
terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News?
18 And also, “If the righteous are
barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?”
19 So if you are
suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust
your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.
