44 Bible Verses about Persecution, Nature Of

I looked and a pale-colored horse appeared. Its rider's name was Death, and Hades came close behind him; and authority was given to them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword or with famine or pestilence or by means of the wild beasts of the earth.

The appearance of the locusts was like that of horses equipped for war. On their heads they had wreaths which looked like gold. Their faces seemed human and they had hair like women's hair, but their teeth resembled those of lions. They had breast-plates which seemed to be made of steel; and the noise caused by their wings was like that of a vast number of horses and chariots hurrying into battle.read more.
They had tails like those of scorpions, and also stings; and in their tails lay their power of injuring mankind for five months.

Satan, however, entered into Judas (the man called Iscariot) He went and conferred with the High Priests and Commanders as to how he should deliver Him up to them.

Curb every passion, and be on the alert. Your great accuser, the Devil, is going about like a roaring lion to see whom he can devour.

Dismiss your fears concerning all that you are about to suffer. I tell you that the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be put to the test, and for ten days you will have to endure persecution. Be faithful to the End, even if you have to die, and then I will give you the victor's Wreath of Life.

If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred.

Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.

"But those men--the vine-dressers--said to one another, "'Here is the heir: come, let us kill him, and then the property will one day be ours.'

On this account then the Jews were all the more eager to put Him to death--because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also spoke of God as being in a special sense His Father, thus putting Himself on a level with God.

If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you.

I have given them Thy Message, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

Everywhere they strengthened the disciples by encouraging them to hold fast to the faith, and warned them saying, "It is through many afflictions that we must make our way into the Kingdom of God."

For you, brethren, followed the example of the Churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judaea; seeing that you endured the same ill-treatment at the hands of your countrymen, as they did at the hands of the Jews. Those Jewish persecutors killed both the Lord Jesus and the Prophets, and drove us out of their midst. They are displeasing to God, and are the enemies of all mankind;

See what marvellous love the Father has bestowed upon us--that we should be called God's children: and that is what we are. For this reason the world does not recognize us--because it has not known Him.

"You yourselves must be on your guard. They will deliver you up to Sanhedrins; you will be brought into synagogues and cruelly beaten; and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to be witnesses to them for me.

But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to appear before Sanhedrins, and will flog you in their synagogues;

Now, about that time, King Herod arrested certain members of the Church, in order to ill-treat them; and James, John's brother, he beheaded. Finding that this gratified the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also; these being the days of Unleavened Bread.

And for this further reason we render unceasing thanks to God, that when you received God's Message from our lips, it was as no mere message from men that you embraced it, but as--what it really is--God's Message, which also does its work in the hearts of you who believe. For you, brethren, followed the example of the Churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judaea; seeing that you endured the same ill-treatment at the hands of your countrymen, as they did at the hands of the Jews. Those Jewish persecutors killed both the Lord Jesus and the Prophets, and drove us out of their midst. They are displeasing to God, and are the enemies of all mankind;read more.
for they still try to prevent our preaching to the Gentiles so that they may find salvation. They thus continually fill up the measure of their own sins, and God's anger in its severest form has overtaken them.

"For this reason I am sending to you Prophets and wise men and Scribes. Some of them you will put to death--nay, crucify; some of them you will flog in your synagogues and chase from town to town; that all the innocent blood shed upon earth may come on you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Berechiah whom you murdered between the Sanctuary and the altar. I tell you in solemn truth that all these things will come upon the present generation.read more.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! thou who murderest the Prophets and stonest those who have been sent to thee! how often have I desired to gather thy children to me, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not come!

"They did indeed assemble in this city in hostility to Thy holy Servant Jesus whom Thou hadst anointed--Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and also the tribes of Israel-- to do all that Thy power and Thy will had predetermined should be done. And now, Lord, listen to their threats, and enable Thy servants to proclaim Thy Message with fearless courage,

This roused the High Priest. He and all his party--the sect of the Sadducees--were filled with angry jealousy and laid hands upon the Apostles, and put them into the public jail.

I persecuted to death this new faith, continually binding both men and women and throwing them into prison;

And permission was given him to make war upon God's people and conquer them; and power was given him over every tribe, people, language and nation.

And I saw the woman drinking herself drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And when I saw her I was filled with utter astonishment.

and a man's own family will be his foes.

Brother will betray brother to death, and father, child; and children will rise against their own parents and will put them to death.

Hearing of this, His relatives came to seize Him by force, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

Yet just as, at that time, the child born in the common course of nature persecuted the one whose birth was due to the power of the Spirit, so it is now.

In fact I take pleasure in infirmities, in the bearing of insults, in distress, in persecutions, in grievous difficulties--for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

We are hard pressed, yet never in absolute distress; perplexed, yet never utterly baffled; pursued, yet never left unsuccoured; struck to the ground, yet never slain; always, wherever we go, carrying with us in our bodies the putting to death of Jesus, so that in our bodies it may also be clearly shown that Jesus lives.read more.
For we, alive though we are, are continually surrendering ourselves to death for the sake of Jesus, so that in this mortal nature of ours it may also be clearly shown that Jesus lives. Thus we are constantly dying, while you are in full enjoyment of Life.

Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if I were out of my mind.) From the Jews I five times have received forty lashes all but one. Three times I have been beaten with Roman rods, once I have been stoned, three times I have been shipwrecked, once for full four and twenty hours I was floating on the open sea.read more.
I have served Him by frequent travelling, amid dangers in crossing rivers, dangers from robbers; dangers from my own countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles; dangers in the city, dangers in the Desert, dangers by sea, dangers from spies in our midst;

And why need I say more? For time will fail me if I tell the story of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, and of David and Samuel and the Prophets; men who, as the result of faith, conquered whole kingdoms, brought about true justice, obtained promises from God, stopped lions' mouths, deprived fire of its power, escaped being killed by the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put to flight foreign armies.read more.
Women received back their dear ones alive from the dead; and others were put to death with torture, refusing the deliverance offered to them--that they might secure a better resurrection. Others again were tested by cruel mockery and by scourging; yes, and by chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tried by temptation, they were killed with the sword. They went from place to place in sheepskins or goatskins, enduring want, oppression and cruelty. They wandered across deserts and mountains, or hid themselves in caves and in holes in the ground.

And indeed every one who is determined to live a godly life as a follower of Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

It has struck no root, however, within him. He continues for a time, but when suffering comes, or persecution, because of the Message, he at once stumbles and falls.

"In solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that there is no one who has forsaken house or brothers or sisters, or mother or father, or children or lands, for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, but will receive a hundred times as much now in this present life--houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, lands--and persecution with them--and in the coming age the Life of the Ages.

For even when we were with you, we forewarned you, saying, "We are soon to suffer affliction;" and this actually happened, as you well know.

For nation will rise in arms against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places; but all these miseries are but like the early pains of childbirth. "At that time they will deliver you up to punishment and will put you to death; and you will be objects of hatred to all the nations because you are called by my name.read more.
Then will many stumble and fall, and they will betray one another and hate one another.

Let no one in any way deceive you, for that day cannot come without the coming of the apostasy first, and the appearing of the man of sin, the son of perdition, who sets himself against, and exalts himself above, every so-called 'god' or object of worship, and goes the length of taking his seat in the very temple of God, giving it out that he himself is God.

And there was given to each of them a long white robe, and they were bidden to wait patiently for a short time longer, until the full number of their fellow bondservants should also complete--namely of their brethren who were soon to be killed just as they had been.

and on this account the Jews began to persecute Jesus--because He did these things on the Sabbath.

but will receive a hundred times as much now in this present life--houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, lands--and persecution with them--and in the coming age the Life of the Ages.

"But before all these things happen they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you up to synagogues and to prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my sake.

Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

and falling to the ground he heard a voice which said to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" "Who art thou, Lord?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," was the reply.