44 Bible Verses about Persecution, Nature Of

and I looked, and there was a pale horse; the name of him that sat thereon was DEATH, and the Grave followed with him: and power was given to them, over the fourth part of the land to kill with sword, with famine, with pestilence, and with wild beasts.

the figure of the locusts were like that of horses prepared to battle; but on their heads they had, as it were, crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. their hair was like that of women, and their teeth like the teeth of lions. they were vested with breast-plates, as it were of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots and many horses running to battle.read more.
they had stings in their tails like scorpions; and they had leave to molest men for five months with their stings.

now satan had inspired Judas surnam'd Iscariot, one of the twelve, what to do. accordingly he went and conferr'd with the chief priests and officers of the temple, about the method of seizing him.

Be temperate, be vigilant: for your adversary the Devil goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

if the world hate you, consider that it hated me before it hated you.

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

but these husbandmen said to one another, this is the heir, come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be our own.

therefore the Jews were the more eager to kill him, because he had not only violated the sabbath, but likewise, because he had said that God was his proper father, making himself equal with God.

if you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world does hate you.

I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

encouraging the disciples, exhorting them to persevere in the faith, representing that it is thro' much tribulation that we must enter into the kingdom of God.

for, my brethren, you have followed the example of the christian churches in Judea; by having suffer'd the same persecutions from your own nation, as the churches have suffer'd from the Jews, the very men who have persecuted the Lord Jesus, and the prophets even to death; who have persecuted us; they who are regardless of pleasing the deity, and are enemies to all mankind;

Consider what proof the father has given us of his love, in allowing us to be called the sons of God: therefore the world does not know us, because it knew him not.

these are the beginning of sorrows. then look to your selves: for they will deliver you up to the tribunals, and scourge you in the synagogues: you will be brought before governours, and princes upon my account, to be my witnesses against them.

be upon your guard with such men, for they will deliver you up to their tribunals, and scourge you in their synagogues.

About that time, king Herod Agrippa began to persecute some of the church. he caus'd James the brother of John to be beheaded. and perceiving that the Jews were pleas'd with this, he proceeded to secure Peter during the feast of unleavened bread:

nor do we fail of giving thanks to God continually, that, when you received the word of God, which we preach, you did not receive it as the doctrine of men, but as a doctrine that appears to be truly divine, by the influences it displays in you, who believe. for, my brethren, you have followed the example of the christian churches in Judea; by having suffer'd the same persecutions from your own nation, as the churches have suffer'd from the Jews, the very men who have persecuted the Lord Jesus, and the prophets even to death; who have persecuted us; they who are regardless of pleasing the deity, and are enemies to all mankind;read more.
who by obstructing our endeavours to save the Gentiles, continue to fill up the measure of their enormities; for which consummate vengeance is falling upon them.

wherefore I shall send you prophets, and wise men, and Scribes; you will kill some, and crucify others, many will ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city. so that you maybe charg'd with all the innocent blood shed upon earth, from the blood of Abel the just, unto the blood of Zacharias, the son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. I declare unto you, all these things shall befall this generation.read more.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not!

for it was truly against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, that Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, united themselves in this city, to effect what thy power and thy wisdom pre-determined to be done. and now, Lord, behold their threatnings: and enable thy servants to deliver thy word with freedom,

Then the high priest, and all that accompanied him, who were of the sect of the Sadducees, being filled with indignation, went and seized on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.

for I persecuted this sect even to death, throwing them into chains and prisons both men and women:

he was permitted to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all the tribes, and provinces, and nations.

and I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondred with great admiration.

even a man's own domestics shall prove his foes.

then the brother shall betray his brother to death, and the father his child: and children shall rise up against their parents, and be the instruments of their death.

when his relations heard of this, they went to his relief, for it was said, he fainted away.

but as then, he that was born in the ordinary course of nature, persecuted him, who was born by an extraordinary power; even so it is now.

I take pleasure then in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am afflicted, then it is I have fortitude.

I am press'd on every side, yet not crush'd; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; dejected, but not destroyed; always bearing about in my body the marks of sufferings like those of Jesus, so that Jesus might be plainly prov'd to be alive by the sufferings of my body.read more.
for as long as I live I shall be exposed to death for the sake of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest by the preservation of our mortal life. so that I suffer the influences of his death, while you only feel the effects of his life.

so am I: are they ministers of Christ? is it my vanity? I am more so: in toilsome labours I surpass them, in stripes I am exceedingly beyond them, in prisons I have been oftner, and frequently in the very jaws of death. from the Jews I have five times received forty stripes save one. thrice was I whip'd with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I was shipwreck'd; a night and a day I was floating on the deep:read more.
in my voyages I have been frequently in perils from rivers, in perils from robbers, in perils from my own countrymen, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the country, in perils at sea, in perils among false brethren;

And what shall I say more? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, of Barak, of Samson, of Jephthae, of David, of Samuel, and of the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, practis'd justice, obtained what was promised, stopped the mouths of lions, were proof against the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, show'd their resolution in distress, and their valour in fight, putting to flight the armies of the aliens.read more.
women recovered their children, tho' dead, by their being raised to life again: some expired under torments, refusing to be delivered; that they might obtain a better deliverance at the resurrection. others suffer'd cruel indignities and scourgings, besides chains and imprisonment. they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandred about in sheepskins, and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented: (of whom the world was not worthy) they wandred in desarts, and in mountains, having no retreat but the dens and caves of the earth.

and those who will live like Christians, shall generally suffer persecution.

but having no root in him he has only an occasional faith: for as soon as any oppression or persecution arises upon account of the gospel, he presently relapses.

Jesus answered him, I declare unto you, there is not a man who has forsaken his house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, out of love to me and to the gospel, but shall receive at present in this age, what will be a hundred times better to him, than houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, tho' with persecution: and in the age to come eternal life.

and even when we were with you, we foretold you, that we should be persecuted, as you know it happen'd.

for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. yet all this is but the beginning of sorrow. then shall they deliver you up to torments, and to death: and ye shall be hated by all nations upon my account.read more.
then shall many relapse, and shall pursue one another with mutual treachery and hatred.

don't be led into any mistake, because the previous rebellion does not yet appear, nor the man of sin throw off the disguise, that offspring of perdition: that adversary that exalts it self above the divine authority of majesty: that is seated in the temple of God, pretending to be it self divine.

and white robes were given to every one of them, and it was said unto them, that they should have patience yet for a little while, till the number of their fellow-servants, and their brethren, that should be killed, as they were, should be complete.

upon which occasion the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he did such things on the sabbath-day.

but shall receive at present in this age, what will be a hundred times better to him, than houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, tho' with persecution: and in the age to come eternal life.

but before all these events, they will seize upon you and persecute you, drag you to the synagogues and to prisons, being accused before kings and governours, for professing my name.

remember what I told you, "the servant is not greater than his master." if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have been spies upon my discourse, they will be so upon yours.

and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice which said to him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? and he said, who art thou, Lord? and the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: [it is hard for thee to kick against the goad. Then trembling with the fright Saul said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? and the Lord said to him,]