This verse begins with “therefore” (Good News Translation then), thus connecting the passage closely with what precedes.

Rid yourselves (compare Revised Standard Version “put away”) translates a metaphorical expression which in the New Testament is connected with various images, such as that of wiping away dirt (James 1.21; 1 Peter 3.21), and of taking off old clothes and putting on new ones (Rom 13.12; Col 3.5; Eph 4.22; etc.). In every case, the expression is used as an appeal to stop doing something which is considered evil. To capture this meaning, many translations employ various metaphorical expressions (for example, New American Bible “strip away”; Knox “put aside”), or else, like Good News Translation, translate the expression in a non-metaphorical manner (for example, New English Bible “away with all malice…”; Jerusalem Bible “Be sure … you are never spiteful…”).

It is possible to take Rid yourselves not as imperative, but as indicative, translating the aorist participle as “having put off” (Kelly). Almost all translations, however, prefer the imperative form.

One of the difficulties involved in a literal rendering of Rid yourselves is the implication that the evil is in some measure external to the individual, but sin obviously is not something that one can simply brush away or wash off. It may therefore be necessary to restructure the expression Rid yourselves, then, of all evil as “quit, therefore, doing any kind of sin.” Since the first expression of verse 1 is a general one followed by specific instances of various kinds of sin, such a generic translation as “stop sinning in any and all ways” may be a very satisfactory introductory expression.

What follows is a list of vices to be avoided. Such lists are quite common in the New Testament (for example, Rom 1.29, 30; 2 Cor 12.20; Eph 4.31; Col 3.8; 1 Tim 1.9, 10), and were used by the early church as part of teaching new converts, a practice which was common among both Jews and Greeks. In 1 Peter, the list concentrates on evil practices which are incompatible with Christian love as mentioned in 1.22.

The word translated evil also occurs in Matthew 6.34 (Good News Bible troubles); Romans 1.29 (Good News Bible wickedness); and 1 Corinthians 14.20 (Good News Bible evil). Here, there are three possible ways of understanding it: (1) as a general term for all the specific vices mentioned after it, which is the position taken by the Good News Translation (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “make an end to everything that isn’t right”); (2) as one vice in addition to the others. This is supported by the Greek text in that “all” (Greek panta) is used both before evil and the next vice in the list (literally “all wickedness and all deceit”), and many modern translations seem to understand it in this way (for example, Jerusalem Bible “never spiteful, or deceitful,” etc.; Phillips “all evil and deceit, all pretence,” etc.; also Barclay, Moffatt, Knox, New International Version). (3) A third possibility is to understand evil as a comprehensive term which together with the second vice in the list is made more specific by those vices enumerated after it (for example, New American Bible “everything vicious, everything deceitful; pretenses…”).

Lying is literally “deceit” or “treachery,” but refers specifically to deceitful speech. Since lying is such a universal pattern of behavior, there is no difficulty involved in finding at least one, if not several, ways of talking about verbal deception. In some languages, however, this may be expressed quite metaphorically, for example, “to speak only with the mouth” or “to use the mouth to cover the heart” or “to talk too much” (with the implication that those who talk too much are bound to say something which is not true) or “to speak with two tongues.”

Hypocrisy primarily means doing something in order to impress others, although the person doing it may not believe in what he is doing (compare Revised Standard Version “insincerity”; New English Bible “pretense”; Barclay “two-faced behavior”). In some instances hypocrisy is rendered as “to wear a mask” or “to cover up one’s faults” or “to pretend goodness.”

Jealousy should not be taken in the popular romantic sense, but in the sense of envy, the feeling of resentment or hatred over someone who has something which the other does not have (compare Barclay “envious behavior”; Knox “grudges”). It may be necessary in some instances to spell out the meaning of jealousy by a phrase, for example, “to hate someone because the person has something one wants,” but normally there are a number of metaphorical expressions which may be employed, for example, “to feel pain in the heart because of others’ prosperity” or “to desire another’s happiness” or “to have a bitter stomach because of another’s good fortune.”

Insulting language translates a Greek word which can be literally rendered “evil speech,” and primarily describes the act of speaking about others in order to belittle or defame them (compare New American Bible “disparaging remark of any kind”; Jerusalem Bible “critical of each other”; Barclay “slanderous gossip”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “all kinds of gossip”). Insulting language may by expressed metaphorically as “to shoot people with words” or “to harm others by whispering” or “to spoil someone’s honor with evil words.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The First Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .