1 Peter 4:5

But they will have to face God. He is ready to be their judge. He will judge everyone, people that are still living and people that are dead. He will ask them about the bad things they did, and they will have to answer him.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

In Context

4Some of your friends keep on doing lots of bad things, and they don’t care about it. But you say, “No,” and you don’t do those bad things with them. So they are surprised, and they rubbish you.

6That is the reason why we told the good news about Jesus to people that are dead now. We told them the good news, then later their bodies died, like all people have to die because they did bad things. But we wanted them to trust in Jesus, so that at the time when God judges everyone, he will make them alive again, and they will live with him for ever.

Read all of 1 Peter 4

Cross References

Matthew 25:31Jesus said, “I am God’s special man, and one day, I will come back from heaven, and all God’s angel messengers will come with me. At that time, I will be really great and powerful. I will be the biggest boss, and I will sit down on the big boss’s seat.

John 5:22My father does not judge anyone. I am his son, and he told me to be the judge of everyone.

Acts 10:42Jesus told us to tell them that one day he will be the judge of everybody. It will be like God will take everybody into a big court, and Jesus will be the judge. He will judge everybody that is alive, and he will judge everybody that is dead too.

Romans 14:10So then it is God, not you, that can tell other Christians that they are wrong. You can’t think that you are better than any other Christian. No. We’ve all got to stand in front of God one day. Then God will tell each of us the things that we did right and the things that we did wrong.

Matthew Henry on 1 Peter 4:5-7

Comfort of the Servants of God. ( a. d. 66.) 4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: 5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. 6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. I. Here you have the visible change wrought in those who in the foregoing verse were represented as having been in… Read the whole commentary →

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