Possible meanings are 1) that by obeying human authorities, they are obeying the Lord who established those authorities or 2) that by obeying human authorities, they will honor Jesus who also obeyed human authorities.
This can be stated in active form. AT: "whom the king has sent to punish" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])
# in doing good you silence the ignorant talk of foolish people
"by doing good you stop foolish people from speaking about things that they do not know"
# as a covering for wickedness
Peter speaks of their condition as free people as something that they should not use to hide sinful behavior. AT: "as an excuse to do wicked things" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
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