1 Peter 4:18

1 Peter 4:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
• New International Version (NIV)And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
• English Standard Version (ESV)And "If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

Context of 1 Peter 4:18

16But if you receive trouble because you are a Christian, do not be ashamed about that. Instead, you should praise God that you belong to Christ. 17The time has come when God will start to judge people. He will first judge the people who belong to him. If he will start with his own people, what will happen to other people? They have refused to obey God's good news, so it will surely be very bad for them. The Bible says: ‘When God saves righteous people, that is a difficult thing. It will surely be much worse for people who turn away from God and who do bad things.’ 19So remember this. If you receive trouble because that is what God wants, you should continue to trust him. God made you and he always does what he has promised. So you should continue to do what is good.

1 Peter 4:18 word by word

καὶ εἰ ὁ δίκαιος μόλις σῴζεται, ὁ ἀσεβὴς καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς ποῦ φανεῖται;Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• the righteousδίκαιοςdikaios · justG1342
• scarcelyμόλιςmolis · hardlyG3433
• be savedσῴζωsōzō · to saveG4982
• whereποῦpou · where?G4226
• shallφαίνωphainō · to shine/appearG5316
• the ungodlyἀσεβήςasebēs · ungodlyG765
• the sinnerἁμαρτωλόςhamartōlos · sinfulG268

Cross-references for 1 Peter 4:18

• 1 Peter 5:8Think seriously about how you live. Watch carefully for danger. Remember that the Devil is your enemy. He wants to hurt you. He walks about like a hungry lion. He is looking for someone to kill and then eat them!
• Proverbs 11:31Righteous people receive what they deserve, here on this earth. So you can be sure that cruel and wicked people will receive their punishment.
• Jeremiah 25:29I have already begun to punish Jerusalem, the city that is my special home. So do not think that I will leave you other nations alone! I will certainly punish you too. I will send war against everyone who lives on the earth. That is what the Lord Almighty says will happen!”
• Ezekiel 18:24A righteous person may stop doing things that are good and right. He may start to do the same disgusting things that wicked people do. Then he will not continue to live. I will not remember any of the good things that he did. Instead, I will punish him because of the sins that he has done. He has not been faithful to me, so he will die.
• Zechariah 13:9I will bring these people through fire. As men clean silver in the fire, so I will clean them. As men test gold in the fire, so I will test them. They will speak my name and I will answer them. I will say, “They are my people.” They will say, “The Lord is our God.” ’
• Matthew 24:22God will cause those days of great trouble to be not so many. If he did not do that, there would be nobody still alive. But God will cause those days to come to an end. He will do that to help the people that he has chosen.
• Mark 13:20The Lord God will cause those days of very bad trouble to come to an end. If he did not do that, there would be nobody still alive. But God will cause those days to be not too many. He will do that to help the people that he has chosen.
• Luke 23:31There is much trouble and pain now. But much worse things will happen! Now the fire burns slowly. But soon it will be like a fire that quickly burns dry wood!’
• Acts 14:22In all these towns, they taught the believers to be strong. They said to them, ‘Continue to trust in the Lord Jesus! All believers will have trouble at different times. That will continue to happen in our lives. But one day we will go into the kingdom of God where he rules.’
• Acts 27:24The angel said, “Paul, do not be afraid. You must go to Rome and Caesar will judge you there. Because of you, God will be kind to all the people on the ship with you. None of them will die.”
• 1 Corinthians 10:12If you think that you are standing strongly, be careful! Do not fall down!
• Hebrews 4:1God promised his people that they could go to his special place of rest. That promise is still true for us today. So we must be very careful. Do not fail to arrive in that place. We certainly do not want that to happen.
• Hebrews 10:38The person that I have accepted as right will live. That person will live because he trusts me. But if anyone is afraid and he turns back, I will not be happy with that person.’
• Psalms 1:4But wicked people are as empty as chaff. The wind blows them away.
• Romans 1:18God in heaven shows that he is angry with people. He is angry because they do not respect him and they do bad things. Because they continue to do those bad things, they choose not to accept God's true message.
• Romans 5:6At one time we were weak and we could not help ourselves. Then, at the right time, Christ died to save us. He died on behalf of people who have turned away from God.

Commentaries on 1 Peter 4:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18And if the righteous scarcely be saved - If it shall be with extreme difficulty that the Christians shall escape from Jerusalem, when the Roman armies shall come against it with the full commission to destroy it, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Where shall the proud Pharisaic boaster in his own outside holiness, and the profligate transgressor of the laws of God, show themselves, as having escaped the Divine vengeance? The Christians…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18And if the righteous scarcely be saved - If they are saved with difficulty. The word used here ( ́ molis) occurs in the following places: Acts 14:18, “scarce restrained they the people;” Acts 27:7, “and scarce were come over against Cnidus;” 1 Peter 4:8, “and hardly passing it;” 1 Peter 4:16, “we had much work to come by the boat” - literally, we were able with difficulty to get the boat; Romans 5:7, “scarcely for a righteous man will one die;” and in the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-19Verses 12-19 By patience and fortitude in suffering, by dependence on the promises of God, and keeping to the word the Holy Spirit hath revealed, the Holy Spirit is glorified; but by the contempt and reproaches cast upon believers, he is evil spoken of, and is blasphemed. One would think such cautions as these were needless to Christians. But their enemies falsely charged them with foul crimes. And even the best of men need to be warned against the worst…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-19Peter gives Christians one final instruction about how to face the trials that will surely come.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. scarcely--Compare "so as by fire," 1Co 3:15; having to pass through trying chastisements, as David did for his sin. "The righteous" man has always more or less of trial, but the issue is certain, and the entrance into the kingdom abundant at last. The "scarcely" marks the severity of the ordeal, and the unlikelihood (in a mere human point of view) of the righteous sustaining it; but the righteousness of Christ and God's everlasting covenant make it…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Peter 4:18

• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Begin
• Cover
• Ungodly
• Charity
• Foreknow; Foreknowledge
• Peter, the First Epistle of
• Peter, the Second Epistle of
• Trinity
• Proverbs, Book of
• create, created, creation, creator

Commentaries on 1 Peter 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings