But they will have to give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
Parallel translations
- WEB who will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
- KJV Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
- NKJV They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
- NASB but they will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
- NLT But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead.
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
Those who slander believers will answer to God, the judge of the living and the dead. It assures the persecuted that final justice belongs to God, not to them.
Overview
Peter answers the slander of verse 4 by pointing to coming judgment. Every person, living or dead, will give account to God, who is 'ready to judge,' a role here closely tied to Christ. This frees believers from the need to retaliate, entrusting vindication to the righteous Judge.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Jas 5:9Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the door!
- Acts 10:42And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.
- 2 Tim 4:1I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom:
- Rom 14:10–12Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
- John 5:22–23Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,
- Matt 12:36But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
- Acts 17:31For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
- Jude 1:14–15Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them: “Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones
- 1 Cor 15:51–52Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
- Ps 1:6For the LORD guards the path of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
- John 5:28–29Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice
- Mal 3:13–15“Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’
- Luke 16:2So he called him in to ask, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in an account of your management, for you cannot be manager any longer.’
- Matt 25:31–46When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.
- Ezek 18:30Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall.
- Eccl 12:14For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 4:5 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.