Bondservants and Masters

5 ^vBondservants,¹ obey your earthly masters² with fear and trembling, ^wwith a sincere heart, ^xas you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as ^ypeople-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 ^zknowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, ^awhether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, ^band stop your threatening, knowing that ^che who is both their Master³ and yours is in heaven, and that ^dthere is no partiality with him.

18 ^wServants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.¹ 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, ^xmindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But ^yif when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For ^zto this you have been called, ^ybecause Christ also suffered for you, ^aleaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 ^bHe committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 ^cWhen he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, ^dbut continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 ^eHe himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we ^fmight die to sin and ^glive to righteousness. ^hBy his wounds you have been healed. 25 For ⁱyou were straying like sheep, but have now returned to ^jthe Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.