Persecution Will Come

^16 (A)“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be ^(B)wise as serpents and ^(C)innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Beware of men, for ^(D)they will deliver you over to courts and flog you ^(E)in their synagogues, ^18 (F)and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, ^(G)to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. ^19 (H)When ^(I)they deliver you over, ^(J)do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for ^(K)what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. ^20 (L)For it is not you who speak, but ^(M)the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ^21 (N)Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, ^22 (O)and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. ^(P)But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ When they ^(Q)persecute you in one town, ^(R)flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel ^(S)before the Son of Man comes.

^24 (T)“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant^[a] above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. ^(U)If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign^[b] those of his household.

The Hatred of the World

^18 (A)“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ^19 (B)If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because ^(C)you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ^(D)‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, ^(E)they will also persecute you. ^(F)If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. ²¹ But ^(G)all these things they will do to you ^(H)on account of my name, ^(I)because they do not know him who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, ^(J)they would not have been guilty of sin,^[a] but now they have no excuse for their sin. ^23 (K)Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ^24 (L)If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, ^(M)they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have ^(N)seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ But ^(O)the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ^(P)‘They hated me without a cause.’