Read the study text slowly, thoughtfully, and prayerfully from your own Bible and the Study Text provided on this web page.

► What are your initial thoughts and how does this passage make you feel when you read it?

You may also find reading from other translations helpful, such as these on the Blue Letter Bible website:
(LSB)   (NLT)

You probably noticed some significant differences between the various translations.  This passage has kept translators and scholars busy as they researched the passage in their effort to help us understand its meaning and message.  The study translation provided on this web page is intended to help clarify both (its meaning and its message).

► Write down any questions you have about the passage and bring them to our study gathering so we can help one another learn about and from the passage.

~~~

Paraphrase of 1 Peter 3:18e–20c
(From GotQuestions.org)

Provided for clarity

“Jesus was put to death in the flesh, but He was made alive in the Spirit (it was through this same Spirit that Jesus long ago preached to those who are right now in prison—those souls who disobeyed during the time of God’s great patience when Noah was building the ark).”

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18

Christ Our Inspiration (3:18-20)

 because Christ also suffered,

once for sins,

the righteous one for the unrighteous ones,

in order to bring you to God.

He was put to death in the flesh,

but was raised to life by Holy Spirit, 

19 by whom He preached to the spirits,

who are now in prison , 

20 when they lived in the days of Noah,

who long ago disobeyed when God patiently waited,

while the ark was being built,

in which few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 

21

Baptism Our Declaration (3:21-22)

 That water prefigures baptism, which now saves you,

not a removal of the filth of flesh,

but the declaration of a good conscience in response to God,

because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

22 Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father,

having gone on to Heaven—

having angles, and authorities, and powers subjected to Him. 

► If you have a study Bible, what do the notes on 1 Peter 3:18-22 teach you?

► Go to: https://www.bibleref.com/1-Peter/3/1-Peter-3-18.html 

• On the right side of the webpage, under the Context Summary section, click on the "Expand" button and read the commentary there.

• Then, on the left side of the webpage, under the word VERSE, click on each of the verse numbers in this lesson, one at a time (18-22), and read the article "What does [this verse] mean?" on the right side of the webpage.  (Click on the button "Expand" under each article to see the whole article.)

► What did you learn about the study passage from these articles?

► What did God want or not want people to know, feel, think, say or do back when Peter wrote this letter?

Based on your readings and study of this passage, what do you think about:

• The flood?

• Baptism?

• The relationship between the two?

► What does God want or not want you to know, feel, think, say or do?

► What would be an appropriate response to this passage?

The flood:

• Read God's record of the flood from the Bible in Genesis chapters 6, 7, and 8.

• Watch this overview video regarding the context of the flood (Genesis chapters 1-11).

• Read the article, "Why Did God Flood the World?"

Baptism:

What is the symbolism of water baptism?

What is the purpose of baptism?

Why should I get baptized?

"He preached to the spirits, who are now in prison" (v. 19):

• Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8)

• Holy Spirit was active among people in the days of Noah (Genesis 6:3) 

• Noah was “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5) (like a prophet)

• Holy Spirit, also known as the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:10-11), worked through the OT prophets.

• In Holy Spirit, Jesus “preached” to the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:19) when they lived in the days of Noah (1 Peter 3:20)

• the spirits in prison > Sheol, where the spirits of people in the OT era went when they died (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

So Jesus, by His Spirit, preached through Noah to people while he built the ark.