1 Peter 3:1–9

¹Wives, in a similar way, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority. Some husbands may not obey God’s word. Their wives could win these men ⸤for Christ⸥ by the way they live without saying anything. ²Their husbands would see how pure and reverent their lives are. 

³Wives must not let their beauty be something external. Beauty doesn’t come from hairstyles, gold jewelry, or clothes. ⁴Rather, beauty is something internal that can’t be destroyed. Beauty expresses itself in a gentle and quiet attitude which God considers precious. ⁵After all, this is how holy women who had confidence in God expressed their beauty in the past. They placed themselves under their husbands’ authority ⁶as Sarah did. Sarah obeyed Abraham and spoke to him respectfully. You became Sarah’s daughters by not letting anything make you afraid to do good. 

⁷Husbands, in a similar way, live with your wives with understanding since they are weaker than you are. Honor your wives as those who share God’s life-giving kindness^aso that nothing will interfere with your prayers. 

Dedicate Your Lives to Jesus

⁸Finally, everyone must live in harmony, be sympathetic, love each other, have compassion, and be humble. ⁹Don’t pay people back with evil for the evil they do to you, or ridicule those who ridicule you. Instead, bless them, because you were called to inherit a blessing.