² They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God.^(A)

²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus^[a] to be the Messiah^[b] would be put out of the synagogue.^(A)

⁹ “Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.^{[a](A) 10} And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death.^{(B) 11} By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme, and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.^(C)

² For I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not based on knowledge.^{(A) 3} Not knowing the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.^(B)

³ “I am a Jew born in Tarsus in Cilicia but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today.^{(A) 4} I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison,^(B)

²⁸ Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.^[a]

⁹ When he broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given;^(A)

¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.^{(A) 20} And while the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing by, approving and keeping the coats of those who killed him.’^{(B) 21} Then he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the gentiles.’ ”^(C)

Paul and the Roman Tribune

²² Up to this point they listened to him, but then they shouted, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” ²³ And while they were shouting, throwing off their cloaks, and tossing dust into the air,^(D)

⁴² Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue,^(A)

²² “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you^[a] on account of the Son of Man.^(A)