and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who disparage your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.
Parallel translations
- WEB having a good conscience; that, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good way of life in Christ.
- KJV Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
- BSB keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.
- NKJV having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
- NLT But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Keeping a good conscience and godly conduct, believers will shame those who slander them. A clear conscience and upright life ultimately put accusers to shame.
Overview
Peter pairs verbal witness with a 'good conscience' and consistent good behavior 'in Christ.' When believers are slandered, their blameless lives expose the falsehood of the accusations, so that critics are 'disappointed' or put to shame. Conduct and conscience thus reinforce the spoken defense of the hope within them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- 1 Pet 2:12having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they see, glorify God in the day of visitation.
- 1 Pet 2:15For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
- Heb 13:18Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.
- Titus 2:8and soundness of speech that can’t be condemned; that he who opposes you may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say about us.
- Matt 5:11“Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
- 1 Pet 2:19For it is commendable if someone endures pain, suffering unjustly, because of conscience toward God.
- 1 Tim 1:5but the goal of this command is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith;
- Rom 9:1I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit,
- Acts 24:16Herein I also practice always having a conscience void of offense toward God and men.
- 2 Cor 1:12For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
- 1 Pet 3:21This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you — not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
- 1 Pet 3:1–2In the same way, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; so that, even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives without a word;
- Heb 9:14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
- 2 Cor 4:2But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
- 1 Tim 1:19holding faith and a good conscience; which some having thrust away made a shipwreck concerning the faith;
- 2 Tim 1:3I thank God, whom I serve as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. How unceasing is my memory of you in my petitions, night and day
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The lamb without blemish foreknown before the world, who bore our sins in his body on the tree, by whose wounds we are healed — the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.
How 1 Peter 3:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.