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1 Peter 3 · a question people ask

"he also went and preached to the spirits in prison" (3:19). Who are the spirits, and what did he preach?

In the text

Here are the verses as the WEB has them: "Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, in whom he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who before were disobedient when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water." (3:18-20). These notes don't explain it further, and they set no other verse beside it.

The verses

“Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, in whom he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who before were disobedient when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”
1 Peter 3:18-20 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Peter 3

1 Peter 3: Always be ready

1 Peter 3 doesn't stop at "Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you" (3:15). It goes on, "with humility and fear," (3:15). And in place of insult for insult it says, "but instead blessing" (3:9).

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Last reviewed October 12, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions