¹Wives, follow the lead of your own husbands. If any of them don’t believe God’s word, they may be won over to Christ without words by seeing how their wives live.

²Let them see that your lives are pure and full of respect for God.

^3-4Let them see a beauty in you that comes from the inside, not from the outside. Your beauty shouldn’t come from fancy hairstyles or gold jewelry or expensive clothes. Instead, it should be the inner beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. Beauty like that doesn’t fade away. God considers it very valuable.

⁵That’s how the holy women of the past used to make themselves beautiful when they put their hope in God and followed the lead of their own husbands.

⁶Sarah was like that. She obeyed Abraham and even called him her master. You’ll be like her if you do what’s right and don’t give in to fear.

⁷Husbands, be understanding of your wives. Treat them with respect, remembering the ways in which they’re physically weaker than you. Honor them as people who will share the gracious gift of life with you. Otherwise, God won’t answer your prayers.

Suffering for Doing Good

⁸Finally, I want all of you to agree with one another. Be understanding, love one another, be kind and tender, be humble.

⁹If someone does something wrong to you or insults you, don’t do the same thing to them. Instead, respond with kind words. This is what God wants you to do so that you can receive a blessing.

¹⁰Scripture says,

“If anyone wants to love life

and see good days,

they must keep their tongue from speaking evil

and their lips from telling lies.

¹¹They must turn away from evil and do good,

and they must look for peace and go after it.

¹²The Lord keeps his eyes on godly people,

and his ears are open to their prayers,

but the Lord opposes those who do evil.”

¹³Who’s going to hurt you if you really want to do good?

¹⁴But if you suffer for doing what’s right, even then you’ll be blessed. Scripture says, “Don’t fear their threats and don’t be afraid.”

¹⁵But make sure that you honor Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope you have. But do this gently and with respect.

¹⁶Keep your conscience clear, so that even if people say bad things about you as believers in Christ, they’ll be ashamed when the way you live proves them wrong.

¹⁷If it’s God’s will for you to suffer for doing good, that’s better than suffering for doing wrong.

¹⁸Christ also suffered once for sins. Someone who did right suffered for those who did wrong, in order to bring you to God. Jesus was put to death in the body, but he was made alive in the Spirit.

¹⁹Then he went and told the good news to the spirits who were being held in prison.

²⁰These were the spirits of those who had disobeyed long before, when God was being patient while Noah built the ark. Only a few people, eight in all, were saved from the flood in the ark.

²¹The water of the flood is a picture of the way that baptism now saves you too. It doesn’t save you by washing the dirt off your body. Instead, it’s your way of promising God that you’ll keep a clear conscience by the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

²²He has now gone into heaven, and he’s at God’s right hand, with angels, authorities, and powers under his control.