13 Who can really hurt you if you are dedicated to doing good?
14 If you’re derided for your faithfulness to the covenant,
you’re blessed.
Don’t fear your opponents;
don’t be intimidated.
15 But revere in your hearts the Messiah as the Holy Lord.
Always be prepared to explain your hope
to anyone who asks you about it,
but do it with tenderness and respect,
16 keeping a clear conscience,
so that, when you are mistreated,
those who malign your Messiah-led faithfulness may be ashamed.
17 God’s will is:
It is better to suffer for doing what’s right
than it is to ever do evil.
18 For the Messiah also suffered once for sins –
the one faithful to the covenant
for those unfaithful to the covenant.
In order to bring us to God,
he was executed in the flesh but made alive again in the Spirit,
19 by which he went and proclaimed to the imprisoned spirits
20 who in long ago times
did not obey the God who waited patiently while Noah built the ark,
in which a few people – eight – were saved through water.
21 Baptism is an echo of this,
and now saves us
not by washing dirt from the body
but as a promise of God’s faithfulness
through the resurrection of the Messiah Jesus,
22 who has gone into heaven
and is at the right hand of God,
with angels, authorities, and powers
under his command.
- translated by KHM, 5/17/2017
