1 Peter 2:11-4

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

III. The Christian in a Hostile World

Christian Examples. ¹¹^[a]Beloved, I urge you as aliens and sojourners^[b] to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against the soul.^(A) ¹²Maintain good conduct among the Gentiles, so that if they speak of you as evildoers, they may observe your good works and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Christian Citizens.^[c] ¹³Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether it be to the king as supreme^(B) ¹⁴or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the approval of those who do good. ¹⁵For it is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶Be free, yet without using freedom as a pretext for evil, but as slaves of God.^(C) ¹⁷Give honor to all, love the community, fear God, honor the king.^(D)

Christian Slaves. ¹⁸^[d]Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and equitable but also to those who are perverse.^(E) ¹⁹For whenever anyone bears the pain of unjust suffering because of consciousness of God, that is a grace. ²⁰But what credit is there if you are patient when beaten for doing wrong? But if you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God. ²¹For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered^[e] for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.^(F)

²²“He committed no sin,^(G)
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”^[f]

²³When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly.^(H) ²⁴He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.^(I) ²⁵For you had gone astray like sheep,^(J) but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.^[g]

Chapter 3

Christian Spouses. ¹^[h]Likewise, you wives should be subordinate to your husbands so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct ²when they observe your reverent and chaste behavior.^(K) ³Your adornment should not be an external one: braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or dressing in fine clothes,^(L) ⁴but rather the hidden character of the heart, expressed in the imperishable beauty of a gentle and calm disposition, which is precious in the sight of God. ⁵For this is also how the holy women who hoped in God once used to adorn themselves and were subordinate to their husbands; ⁶thus Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him “lord.” You are her children when you do what is good and fear no intimidation.

⁷^(M)Likewise, you husbands should live with your wives in understanding, showing honor to the weaker female sex, since we are joint heirs of the gift of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.^[i]

Christian Conduct.^[j] ⁸Finally, all of you, be of one mind, sympathetic, loving toward one another, compassionate, humble. ⁹Do not return evil for evil, or insult for insult; but, on the contrary, a blessing, because to this you were called, that you might inherit a blessing.^(N) ¹⁰For:

“Whoever would love life^(O)
    and see good days
must keep the tongue from evil
    and the lips from speaking deceit,
¹¹must turn from evil and do good,
    seek peace and follow after it.
¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears turned to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against evildoers.”

Christian Suffering.^[k] ¹³Now who is going to harm you if you are enthusiastic for what is good? ¹⁴But even if you should suffer because of righteousness, blessed are you. Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, ¹⁵but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,^(P) ¹⁶but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame. ¹⁷For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.

¹⁸For Christ also suffered^[l] for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit.^(Q) ¹⁹In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison,^[m] ²⁰who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water.^(R) ²¹This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God^[n] for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,^(S) ²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.^(T)

Chapter 4

Christian Restraint.^[o] ¹Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same attitude (for whoever suffers in the flesh has broken with sin), ²so as not to spend what remains of one’s life in the flesh on human desires, but on the will of God. ³For the time that has passed is sufficient for doing what the Gentiles like to do: living in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and wanton idolatry.^(U) ⁴They are surprised that you do not plunge into the same swamp of profligacy, and they vilify you; ⁵but they will give an account to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.^(V) ⁶For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead^[p] that, though condemned in the flesh in human estimation, they might live in the spirit in the estimation of God.

Christian Charity.^[q] ⁷The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and sober for prayers. ⁸^(W)Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins.^[r] ⁹Be hospitable to one another without complaining.^(X) ¹⁰As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.^(Y) ¹¹Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God; whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,^(Z) to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.^[s]

IV. Advice to the Persecuted

Trial of Persecution.^[t]

Footnotes

2:11–3:12 After explaining the doctrinal basis for the Christian community, the author makes practical applications in terms of the virtues that should prevail in all the social relationships of the members of the community: good example to Gentile neighbors (1 Pt 2:11–12); respect for human authority (1 Pt 2:13–17); obedience, patience, and endurance of hardship in domestic relations (1 Pt 2:18–25); Christian behavior of husbands and wives (1 Pt 3:1–7); mutual charity (1 Pt 3:8–12).
2:11 Aliens and sojourners: no longer signifying absence from one’s native land (Gn 23:4), this image denotes rather their estrangement from the world during their earthly pilgrimage (see also 1 Pt 1:1, 17).
2:13–17 True Christian freedom is the result of being servants of God (2 Pt 2:16; see note on 1 Pt 2:18–23). It includes reverence for God, esteem for every individual, and committed love for fellow Christians (1 Pt 2:17). Although persecution may threaten, subjection to human government is urged (1 Pt 2:13, 17) and concern for the impact of Christians’ conduct on those who are not Christians (1 Pt 2:12, 15).
2:18–21 Most of the labor in the commercial cities of first-century Asia Minor was performed by a working class of slaves. The sense of freedom contained in the gospel undoubtedly caused great tension among Christian slaves: witness the special advice given concerning them here and in 1 Cor 7:21–24; Eph 6:5–8; Col 3:22–25; Phlm. The point made here does not have so much to do with the institution of slavery, which the author does not challenge, but with the nonviolent reaction (1 Pt 2:20) of slaves to unjust treatment. Their patient suffering is compared to that of Jesus (1 Pt 2:21), which won righteousness for all humanity.
2:21 Suffered: some ancient manuscripts and versions read “died” (cf. 1 Pt 3:18).
2:22–25 After the quotation of Is 53:9b, the passage describes Jesus’ passion with phrases concerning the Suffering Servant from Is 53:4–12, perhaps as employed in an early Christian confession of faith; cf. 1 Pt 1:18–21 and 1 Pt 3:18–22.
2:25 The shepherd and guardian of your souls: the familiar shepherd and flock figures express the care, vigilance, and love of God for his people in the Old Testament (Ps 23; Is 40:11; Jer 23:4–5; Ez 34:11–16) and of Jesus for all humanity in the New Testament (Mt 18:10–14; Lk 15:4–7; Jn 10:1–16; Hb 13:20).
3:1–6 The typical marital virtues of women of the ancient world, obedience, reverence, and chastity (1 Pt 3:1–2), are outlined here by the author, who gives them an entirely new motivation: Christian wives are to be virtuous so that they may be instrumental in the conversion of their husbands. In imitation of holy women in the past (1 Pt 3:5) they are to cultivate the interior life (1 Pt 3:4) instead of excessive concern with their appearance (1 Pt 3:3).
3:7 Husbands who do not respect their wives will have as little success in prayer as those who, according to Paul, have no love: their prayers will be “a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal” (1 Cor 13:1). Consideration for others is shown as a prerequisite for effective prayer also in Mt 5:23–24; 1 Cor 11:20–22; Jas 4:3. After all, whatever the social position of women in the world and in the family, they are equal recipients of the gift of God’s salvation. Paul is very clear on this point, too (see 1 Cor 11:11–12; Gal 3:28).
3:8–12 For the proper ordering of Christian life in its various aspects as described in 1 Pt 2:11–3:9, there is promised the blessing expressed in Ps 34:13–17. In the Old Testament this refers to longevity and prosperity; here, it also refers to eternal life.
3:13–22 This exposition, centering on 1 Pt 3:17, runs as follows: by his suffering and death Christ the righteous one saved the unrighteous (1 Pt 3:18); by his resurrection he received new life in the spirit, which he communicates to believers through the baptismal bath that cleanses their consciences from sin. As Noah’s family was saved through water, so Christians are saved through the waters of baptism (1 Pt 3:19–22). Hence they need not share the fear of sinners; they should rather rejoice in suffering because of their hope in Christ. Thus their innocence disappoints their accusers (1 Pt 3:13–16; cf. Mt 10:28; Rom 8:35–39).
3:18 Suffered: very many ancient manuscripts and versions read “died.” Put to death in the flesh: affirms that Jesus truly died as a human being. Brought to life in the spirit: that is, in the new and transformed existence freed from the limitations and weaknesses of natural human life (cf. 1 Cor 15:45).
3:19 The spirits in prison: it is not clear just who these spirits are. They may be the spirits of the sinners who died in the flood, or angelic powers, hostile to God, who have been overcome by Christ (cf. 1 Pt 3:22; Gn 6:4; Enoch 6–36, especially 21:6; 2 Enoch 7:1–5).
3:21 Appeal to God: this could also be translated “pledge,” that is, a promise on the part of Christians to live with a good conscience before God, or a pledge from God of forgiveness and therefore a good conscience for us.
4:1–6 Willingness to suffer with Christ equips the Christian with the power to conquer sin (1 Pt 4:1). Christ is here portrayed as the judge to whom those guilty of pagan vices must render an account (1 Pt 4:5; cf. Jn 5:22–27; Acts 10:42; 2 Tm 4:1).
4:6 The dead: these may be the sinners of the flood generation who are possibly referred to in 1 Pt 3:19. But many scholars think that there is no connection between these two verses, and that the dead here are Christians who have died since hearing the preaching of the gospel.
4:7–11 The inner life of the eschatological community is outlined as the end (the parousia of Christ) and the judgment draws near in terms of seriousness, sobriety, prayer, and love expressed through hospitality and the use of one’s gifts for the glory of God and of Christ.
4:8 Love covers a multitude of sins: a maxim based on Prv 10:12; see also Ps 32:1; Jas 5:20.
4:11 Some scholars feel that this doxology concludes the part of the homily addressed specifically to the newly baptized, begun in 1 Pt 1:3; others that it concludes a baptismal liturgy. Such doxologies do occur within a New Testament letter, e.g., Rom 9:5. Some propose that 1 Pt 4:11 was an alternate ending, with 1 Pt 4:12–5:14 being read in places where persecution was more pressing. But such doxologies usually do not occur at the end of letters (the only examples are 2 Pt 3:18, Jude 25, and Rom 16:27, the last probably a liturgical insertion).
4:12–19 The suffering to which the author has already frequently referred is presented in more severe terms. This has led some scholars to see these verses as referring to an actual persecution. Others see the heightening of the language as only a rhetorical device used at the end of the letter to emphasize the suffering motif.

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

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