1 Peter 3

New King James Version

Submission to Husbands

3 Wives, likewise, be ^(A)submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, ^(B)they, without a word, may ^(C)be won by the conduct of their wives, ²^(D)when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. ³^(E)Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— ⁴rather let it be ^(F)the hidden person of the heart, with the ^[a]incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. ⁵For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, ⁶as Sarah obeyed Abraham, ^(G)calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

A Word to Husbands

⁷^(H)Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, ^(I)as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, ^(J)that your prayers may not be hindered.

Called to Blessing

⁸Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be ^[b]courteous; ⁹^(K)not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary ^(L)blessing, knowing that you were called to this, ^(M)that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰For

^(N)“He who would love life
And see good days,
^(O)Let him ^[c]refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
¹¹Let him ^(P)turn away from evil and do good;
^(Q)Let him seek peace and pursue it.
¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
^(R)And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Suffering for Right and Wrong

¹³^(S)And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? ¹⁴^(T)But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. ^(U)“And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” ¹⁵But ^[d]sanctify ^[e]the Lord God in your hearts, and always ^(V)be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the ^(W)hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; ¹⁶^(X)having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. ¹⁷For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

Christ’s Suffering and Ours

¹⁸For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring ^[f]us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, ¹⁹by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, ²⁰who formerly were disobedient, ^[g]when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. ²¹^(Y)There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism ^(Z)(not the removal of the filth of the flesh, ^(AA)but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²²who has gone into heaven and ^(AB)is at the right hand of God, ^(AC)angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

Footnotes

1 Peter 3:4 imperishable
1 Peter 3:8 NU humble
1 Peter 3:10 restrain
1 Peter 3:15 set apart
1 Peter 3:15 NU Christ as Lord
1 Peter 3:18 NU, M you
1 Peter 3:20 NU, M when the longsuffering of God waited patiently

Ezekiel 31-32

New King James Version

Egypt Cut Down Like a Great Tree^(A)

31 Now it came to pass in the ^(B)eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude:

^(C)‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
³^(D)Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon,
With fine branches that shaded the forest,
And of high stature;
And its top was among the thick boughs.
⁴^(E)The waters made it grow;
Underground waters gave it height,
With their rivers running around the place where it was planted,
And sent out ^[a]rivulets to all the trees of the field.

⁵‘Therefore ^(F)its height was exalted above all the trees of the field;
Its boughs were multiplied,
And its branches became long because of the abundance of water,
As it sent them out.
⁶All the ^(G)birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs;
Under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young;
And in its shadow all great nations ^[b]made their home.

⁷‘Thus it was beautiful in greatness and in the length of its branches,
Because its roots reached to abundant waters.
⁸The cedars in the ^(H)garden of God could not hide it;
The fir trees were not like its boughs,
And the ^[c]chestnut trees were not like its branches;
No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty.
⁹I made it beautiful with a multitude of branches,
So that all the trees of Eden envied it,
That were in the garden of God.’

¹⁰“Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have increased in height, and it set its top among the thick boughs, and ^(I)its heart was ^[d]lifted up in its height, ¹¹therefore I will deliver it into the hand of the ^(J)mighty one of the nations, and he shall surely deal with it; I have driven it out for its wickedness. ¹²And aliens, ^(K)the most terrible of the nations, have cut it down and left it; its branches have fallen ^(L)on the mountains and in all the valleys; its boughs lie ^(M)broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the peoples of the earth have gone from under its shadow and left it.

¹³‘On ^(N)its ruin will remain all the birds of the heavens,
And all the beasts of the field will come to its branches—

¹⁴So that no trees by the waters may ever again exalt themselves for their height, nor set their tops among the thick boughs, that no tree which drinks water may ever be high enough to reach up to them.

‘For ^(O)they have all been delivered to death,
^(P)To the depths of the earth,
Among the children of men who go down to the Pit.’

¹⁵“Thus says the Lord God: ‘In the day when it ^(Q)went down to ^[e]hell, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it. I restrained its rivers, and the great waters were held back. I caused Lebanon to ^[f]mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it. ¹⁶I made the nations ^(R)shake at the sound of its fall, when I ^(S)cast it down to ^[g]hell together with those who descend into the Pit; and ^(T)all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, ^(U)were comforted in the depths of the earth. ¹⁷They also went down to hell with it, with those slain by the sword; and those who were its strong arm ^(V)dwelt in its shadows among the nations.

¹⁸^(W)‘To which of the trees in Eden will you then be likened in glory and greatness? Yet you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the depths of the earth; ^(X)you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude,’ says the Lord God.”

Lamentation for Pharaoh and Egypt

32 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the ^(Y)twelfth month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, ^(Z)take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:

^(AA)‘You are like a young lion among the nations,
And ^(AB)you are like a monster in the seas,
^(AC)Bursting forth in your rivers,
Troubling the waters with your feet,
And ^(AD)fouling their rivers.

³‘Thus says the Lord God:

“I will therefore ^(AE)spread My net over you with a company of many people,
And they will draw you up in My net.
⁴Then ^(AF)I will leave you on the land;
I will cast you out on the open fields,
^(AG)And cause to ^[h]settle on you all the birds of the heavens.
And with you I will fill the beasts of the whole earth.
⁵I will lay your flesh ^(AH)on the mountains,
And fill the valleys with your carcass.

⁶“I will also water the land with the flow of your blood,
Even to the mountains;
And the riverbeds will be full of you.
⁷When I put out your light,
^(AI)I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
And the moon shall not give her light.
⁸All the ^[i]bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you,
And bring darkness upon your land,”
Says the Lord God.

⁹‘I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. ¹⁰Yes, I will make many peoples astonished at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and ^(AJ)they shall tremble every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.

¹¹^(AK)‘For thus says the Lord God: “The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. ¹²By the swords of the mighty warriors, all of them ^(AL)the most terrible of the nations, I will cause your multitude to fall.

^(AM)“They shall plunder the pomp of Egypt,
And all its multitude shall be destroyed.
¹³Also I will destroy all its animals
From beside its great waters;
^(AN)The foot of man shall muddy them no more,
Nor shall the hooves of animals muddy them.
¹⁴Then I will make their waters ^[j]clear,
And make their rivers run like oil,”
Says the Lord God.

¹⁵“When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
And the country is destitute of all that once filled it,
When I strike all who dwell in it,
^(AO)Then they shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁶“This is the ^(AP)lamentation
With which they shall lament her;
The daughters of the nations shall lament her;
They shall lament for her, for Egypt,
And for all her multitude,”
Says the Lord God.’ ”

Egypt and Others Consigned to the Pit

¹⁷It came to pass also in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, ^(AQ)that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

¹⁸“Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt,
And ^(AR)cast them down to the depths of the earth,
Her and the daughters of the famous nations,
With those who go down to the Pit:
¹⁹‘Whom ^(AS)do you surpass in beauty?
^(AT)Go down, be placed with the uncircumcised.’

²⁰“They shall fall in the midst of those slain by the sword;
She is delivered to the sword,
^(AU)Drawing her and all her multitudes.
²¹^(AV)The strong among the mighty
Shall speak to him out of the midst of hell
With those who help him:
‘They have ^(AW)gone down,
They lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’

²²“Assyria^(AX) is there, and all her company,
With their graves all around her,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword.
²³^(AY)Her graves are set in the recesses of the Pit,
And her company is all around her grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword,
Who ^(AZ)caused terror in the land of the living.

²⁴“There is ^(BA)Elam and all her multitude,
All around her grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword,
Who have ^(BB)gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth,
^(BC)Who caused their terror in the land of the living;
Now they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.
²⁵They have set her ^(BD)bed in the midst of the slain,
With all her multitude,
With her graves all around it,
All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword;
Though their terror was caused
In the land of the living,
Yet they bear their shame
With those who go down to the Pit;
It was put in the midst of the slain.

²⁶“There are ^(BE)Meshech and Tubal and all their multitudes,
With all their graves around it,
All of them ^(BF)uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
Though they caused their terror in the land of the living.
²⁷^(BG)They do not lie with the mighty
Who are fallen of the uncircumcised,
Who have gone down to hell with their weapons of war;
They have laid their swords under their heads,
But their iniquities will be on their bones,
Because of the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
²⁸Yes, you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised,
And lie with those slain by the sword.

²⁹“There is ^(BH)Edom,
Her kings and all her princes,
Who despite their might
Are laid beside those slain by the sword;
They shall lie with the uncircumcised,
And with those who go down to the Pit.
³⁰^(BI)There are the princes of the north,
All of them, and all the ^(BJ)Sidonians,
Who have gone down with the slain
In shame at the terror which they caused by their might;
They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword,
And bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.

³¹“Pharaoh will see them
And be ^(BK)comforted over all his multitude,
Pharaoh and all his army,
Slain by the sword,”
Says the Lord God.

³²“For I have caused My terror in the land of the living;
And he shall be placed in the midst of the uncircumcised
With those slain by the sword,
Pharaoh and all his multitude,”
Says the Lord God.