1 Peter 3:17-22 (NIV)
17It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
18For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
19through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison
20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,
21and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand--with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
Hebrews 10:15-39 (NIV)
15The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16"This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds."
17Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."
18And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,
21and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."
31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.
33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.
34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
37For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."
39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
