Conduct yourselves honourably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.
So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, because it was said about them, “These are the people of the Lord, yet they had to leave his land in exile.”
The governors who preceded me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them food and wine as well as half a kilogram of silver. Their subordinates also oppressed the people, but because of the fear of God, I didn’t do this.