Do good things to others, even if you suffer for doing it, as Christ did.

1 Peter 3:13-22

13 If you ◄are eager/try very hard► to do good things, most people will not harm you. [RHQ] 14 But even if you suffer because of doing what is right, God will bless you. Do as Isaiah wrote: “Do not be afraid of people who ◄threaten you/say things to cause you to be afraid of what they might do to you►, and do not worry about [DOU] what they might do to you.” 15 Instead, acknowledge that Christ is the one who is in complete control of your lives. Always be ready to answer everyone who demands that you tell them about what you confidently expect God to do for you. 16 But answer them humbly and respectfully, and make sure that you ◄do/have done► nothing wrong, in order that those who say evil things about you may be ashamed when they see the good way in which you are conducting yourselves because of your relationship with Christ. 17 It may be that God wants you to suffer. But it is better to do good things, even if you suffer for doing them, than to do evil things and suffer for doing that. 18 I say that because Christ died once for the sake of people who have sinned. He was a righteous person who died for unrighteous people. He died in order that ◄he might bring us to/we might begin an intimate relationship with► God. During the time that he had an ordinary body, he was killed {people killed him}, but God’s Spirit caused him to become alive again. 19 The Spirit also helped him as he went to proclaim God’s victory to the evil spirits whom God had imprisoned in the heavens (OR, to the spirits of those who had died, and who were in the place where the spirits of dead people are). 20 Long ago, during the time that Noah was building a big boat, those evil spirits disobeyed God when he waited patiently [PRS] to see if people would turn from their evil behavior. Only a few people were saved {God saved only a few people} in that boat. Specifically, God brought only eight persons safely through the waters of the flood, while all the others drowned in it. 21 That water, by means of which eight people were saved when God punished the other people [MET], represents the water in which we are baptized to show that God has saved us from being punished. The water in which we are baptized does not remove dirt from our bodies. Instead, it shows that we are requesting God to assure us that he has removed our guilt for having sinned. And because Jesus Christ became alive again after he died, we know that God accepted his sacrifice for us and because of that he was able to remove our guilt. 22 Christ has gone into heaven and is ruling [MTY] in the place of highest honor ◄next to God/at God’s side►, after God caused all the evil and powerful spirit beings [DOU] to be made subject to him.