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For the time that has passed was sufficient for you to do what the non-Christians[a] desire.[b] You lived then[c] in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking bouts,[d] and wanton idolatries.[e] So[f] they are astonished[g] when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you.[h] They will face a reckoning before[i] Jesus Christ[j] who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Peter 4:3 tn Grk “the Gentiles,” used here of those who are not God’s people.
  2. 1 Peter 4:3 tn Grk “to accomplish the desire of the Gentiles.”
  3. 1 Peter 4:3 tn Grk “having gone along,” referring to the readers’ behavior in time past.
  4. 1 Peter 4:3 tn According to BDAG 857 s.v. πότος the term refers to a social gathering at which wine is served, hence “drinking parties” (cf. TEV, NASB). However, the collocation with the other terms in v. 4 suggests something less sophisticated and more along the lines of wild and frenzied drinking bouts.
  5. 1 Peter 4:3 tn The Greek words here all occur in the plural to describe their common practice in the past.
  6. 1 Peter 4:4 tn Grk “in/by which,” referring to the change of behavior described in v. 3. The unbelievers are astonished by the readers’ moral transformation. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  7. 1 Peter 4:4 tn Or “are surprised, are taken aback.” The same verb occurs in 4:12.
  8. 1 Peter 4:4 tn Grk “blaspheming,” giving the result of their astonishment. Here the target of their “blasphemy/vilification” is not God but the Christian.
  9. 1 Peter 4:5 tn Grk “give an account to.”
  10. 1 Peter 4:5 tn Grk “the one”; the referent (Jesus Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

For you have spent enough time in the past(A) doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.(B) They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.(C) But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.(D)

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