1 Peter 4:18

And if the righteous scarcely be saved Once more we have a passage from the Old Testament (Proverbs 11:31) without any formula of quotation. In this instance the Apostle quotes from the LXX. version, though it is hardly more than an inaccurate paraphrase of the Hebrew, which runs "the righteous shall be requited" (the word may mean "punished") "upon earth, much more the ungodly and the sinner." St Peter, following the LXX., omits the words "upon earth," which limit the application of the proverb to temporal chastisements; but it is obvious, as he is speaking primarily of the fiery trial of persecution, that he includes these as well as the issue of the final judgment. A time of "great tribulation," such as Christ had foretold, was coming on the earth, in which, but for the elect's sake, "no flesh should be saved" (Matthew 24:22). The "un-godly" and the "sinner" correspond to "those that obey not" in the previous verse, the former pointing to sins against God, the latter to sins against man.