19-22 He went and proclaimed God’s salvation to earlier generations who ended up in the prison of judgment because they wouldn’t listen. You know, even though God waited patiently all the days that Noah built his ship, only a few were saved then, eight to be exact—saved from the water by the water. The waters of baptism do that for you, not by washing away dirt from your skin but by presenting you through Jesus’ resurrection before God with a clear conscience. Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies. He’s standing right alongside God, and what he says goes.

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19 After being made alive,[a] he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits(A) 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently(B) in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.(C) In it only a few people, eight in all,(D) were saved(E) through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you(F) also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience(G) toward God.[b] It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,(H)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Peter 3:19 Or but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also
  2. 1 Peter 3:21 Or but an appeal to God for a clear conscience