What did Jesus say about Persecution?

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

⁷ Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

¹⁰ Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

¹² Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

⁴ “Be careful that no one leads you astray.

⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray.

⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.

⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places.

⁸ But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “Then they will deliver you up to oppression and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake.

¹⁰ Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another.

¹¹ Many false prophets will arise and will lead many astray.

¹² Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.

¹³ But he who endures to the end will be saved.

¹⁴ This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

⁵ “Be careful that no one leads you astray.

⁶ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and will lead many astray.

⁷ “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be troubled. For those must happen, but the end is not yet.

⁸ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines and troubles. These things are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “But watch yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them.

¹⁰ The Good News must first be preached to all the nations.

¹¹ When they lead you away and deliver you up, don’t be anxious beforehand or premeditate what you will say, but say whatever will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

¹² “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.

¹³ You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.

²⁰ “Blessed are you who are poor, for God’s Kingdom is yours.

²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

²² Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude and mock you, and throw out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.

²³ Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did the same thing to the prophets.

²⁴ “But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation.

²⁵ Woe to you, you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

²⁶ Woe, when men speak well of you, for their fathers did the same thing to the false prophets.

⁸ “Watch out that you don’t get led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is at hand.’ Therefore don’t follow them.

⁹ When you hear of wars and disturbances, don’t be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end won’t come immediately.”

¹⁰ “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

¹¹ There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

¹² But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake.

¹³ It will turn out as a testimony for you.

¹⁴ Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to answer,

¹⁵ for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to contradict.

¹⁶ You will be handed over even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will cause some of you to be put to death.

¹⁷ You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake.

¹⁸ And not a hair of your head will perish.

¹⁹ “By your endurance you will win your lives.

¹⁶ “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

¹⁷ But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you.

¹⁸ Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.

¹⁹ But when they deliver you up, don’t be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say.

²⁰ For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

²¹ “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.

²² You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.

²³ But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for most certainly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man has come.

¹⁸ If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.

¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

²¹ But they will do all these things to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me.

²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

²³ He who hates me, hates my Father also.

²⁴ If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now they have seen and also hated both me and my Father.

²⁵ But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’

²⁹ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the righteous,

³⁰ and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

³¹ Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets.

³² Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.

³³ You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?

³⁴ Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,

³⁵ that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.

³⁶ Most certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

⁴⁶ “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.

⁴⁷ Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

⁴⁸ So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs.

⁴⁹ Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute,

⁵⁰ that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation,

⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.

⁵² Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.”

³⁹ “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.

⁴⁰ But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this.

⁴¹ You do the works of your father.”

⁴² “If God were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I haven’t come of myself, but he sent me.

⁴³ Why don’t you understand my speech? Because you can’t hear my word.

⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.

⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me.

⁴⁶ Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?

⁴⁷ He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of God.”