The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.

Lord, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,

For they persecute those you wound and talk about the pain of those you hurt.

How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors?

All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.

Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes.

ש Sin and Shin

Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word.

Lord, you understand; remember me and care for me. Avenge me on my persecutors. You are long-suffering—do not take me away; think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.

Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction.

But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.

But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.

Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’

“But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.

The Authority of the Son

So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him.

Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

The Apostles Persecuted

Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.

Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him—

And Saul approved of their killing him.

The Church Persecuted and Scattered

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

The Church in Antioch

Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews.

Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.

But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.

I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,

I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

“‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. “ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied.

Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.

They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.

Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.

as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.

Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.

They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.