In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,

and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;

and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;

For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,

who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.

Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.