1In the same way, you wives, be subject to your own husbands. Then if any of them do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,
2as they see your pure conduct joined with reverence.
3Do not let your beauty be the outward kind: braiding the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine clothes.
4Let it be the hidden person of the heart, in what cannot be spoiled: the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is worth very much.
5For this is how the holy women of long ago made themselves beautiful. They trusted in God, and they were subject to their own husbands.
6So Sara obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You are her daughters as long as you do well and are not frightened by any terror.
7In the same way, you husbands, live with your wives with understanding. Give honour to the wife as the weaker vessel, since you are heirs together of the grace of life. Then nothing will hinder your prayers.
8Finally, all of you be of one mind. Feel for one another. Love as brothers and sisters. Be tender-hearted. Be courteous.
9Do not pay back evil for evil, or insult for insult. Instead, give a blessing. You know that you were called to this, so that you might inherit a blessing.
10For whoever wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.
11He must turn away from evil and do good. He must look for peace and go after it.
12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
13And who is going to harm you, if you follow what is good?
14But even if you suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are happy. Do not be afraid of what they fear, and do not be troubled.
15But set apart the Lord God as holy in your hearts. Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. Do it with gentleness and respect,
16keeping a good conscience. Then when they speak evil of you, as if you were wrongdoers, those who falsely accuse your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame.
17For it is better, if that is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit.
19By that Spirit he also went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20who long ago were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ark was being made. In it a few people, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
21Baptism matches that picture, and it now saves us too. It is not the washing of dirt from the body, but the answer of a good conscience towards God. It saves us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels and authorities and powers made subject to him.