1 Peter 3:8–18

⁸¹Now to sum up, ^aall of you be like-minded, sympathetic, ^bbrotherly, ^ctender-hearted, and ^dhumble in spirit;

^9anot returning evil for evil or ^breviling for reviling, but ¹giving a ^cblessing instead, for ^dyou were called for the very purpose that you might ^einherit a blessing.

¹⁰For,

“^aThe one who desires life, to love and see good days,

Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

¹¹“^aHe must turn away from evil and do good;

He must seek peace and pursue it.

¹²“^aFor the eyes of the ¹Lord are toward the righteous,

And His ears attend to their prayer,

But the face of the ²Lord is against those who do evil.”

Suffering for Righteousness

^13aAnd who is ¹there to ²harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?

¹⁴But even if you should ^asuffer for the sake of righteousness, ^byou ¹are blessed. ^cAnd do not fear their fear, and do not be troubled,

¹⁵but ¹sanctify ^aChrist as Lord in your hearts, always being ready ^bto make ²a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the ^chope that is in you, yet ^dwith gentleness and ^efear,

¹⁶having a ^agood conscience so that in the thing in which ^byou are slandered, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame.

¹⁷For ^ait is better, ^bif ¹God should will it so, that you suffer for doing good rather than for doing wrong.

¹⁸For ^aChrist also suffered for sins ^bonce for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that He might ^cbring you to God, having been put to death ^din the flesh, but made alive ^ein the ¹spirit;