1 In a similar way, you wives must submit yourselves to your husbands so that, even if some of them refuse to obey the word, they may be won over without a word through your conduct as wives
2 when they see your pure and reverent lives.
3 Your beauty should not be an external one, consisting of braided hair or the wearing of gold ornaments and dresses.
4 Instead, it should be the inner disposition of the heart, consisting in the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which God values greatly.
5 After all, this is how holy women who set their hope on God used to make themselves beautiful in the past. They submitted themselves to their husbands,
6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her daughters by doing good and by not letting anything terrify you.
7 In a similar way, you husbands must live with your wives in an understanding manner, as with a most delicate partner. Honor them as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing may interfere with your prayers.
8 Finally, all of you must live in harmony, be sympathetic, love as brothers, and be compassionate and humble.
9 Do not pay others back evil for evil or insult for insult. Instead, keep blessing them, because you were called to inherit a blessing.
10 "For the person who wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.
11 He must turn away from evil and do good. He must seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the Lord watches the righteous, and he pays attention to their prayers. But the Lord opposes those who do wrong."
13 Who will harm you if you are devoted to doing what is good?
14 But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. "Never be afraid of their threats, and never get upset.
15 Instead, exalt the Messiah" as Lord in your lives. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you to explain the hope you have.
16 But do this gently and respectfully, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak evil of your good conduct in the Messiah will be ashamed of slandering you.
17 After all, if it is the will of God, it is better to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong.
18 For the Messiah also suffered for sins once for all, an innocent person for the guilty, so that he could bring you to God. He was put to death in a mortal body but was brought to life by the Spirit,
19 in which he went and made a proclamation to those imprisoned spirits
20 who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah, when God waited patiently while the ark was being built. In it a few, that is, eight persons, were saved by water.
21 Baptism, which is symbolized by that water, now saves you also, not by removing dirt from the body, but by asking God for a clear conscience based on the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah,
22 who has gone to heaven and is at the right hand of God, where angels, authorities, and powers have been made subject to him.