1 Peter 2:12 (GNV)

Passage

And haue your conuersation honest among the Gentiles, that they which speake euill of you as of euill doers, may by your good woorkes which they shall see, glorifie God in the day of visitation.

Nearby Context

1 Peter 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, yet are nowe the people of God: which in time past were not vnder mercie, but nowe haue obteined mercie.

1 Peter 2:11 Dearely beloued, I beseeche you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstaine from fleshly lusts, which fight against the soule,

1 Peter 2:12 And haue your conuersation honest among the Gentiles, that they which speake euill of you as of euill doers, may by your good woorkes which they shall see, glorifie God in the day of visitation.

1 Peter 2:13 Therefore submit your selues vnto all maner ordinance of man for the Lordes sake, whether it be vnto the King, as vnto the superiour,

1 Peter 2:14 Or vnto gouernours, as vnto them that are sent of him, for the punishment of euill doers, and for the praise of them that doe well.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "haue", "conuersation", "honest", "gentiles", "speake", "euill", and "doers". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "haue" and "conuersation", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "Dearely beloued I beseeche you as strangers..." into verse 13's "Therefore submit your selues vnto all maner...", so "haue" and "conuersation" belong inside that flow. In 1 Peter context, the local focus is hope in suffering, holy conduct, submission, and grace.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "haue" and "conuersation" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.