72 Bible Verses about Persecution, Nature Of

Through the pride of the wicked, Is the poor inflamed, They are caught in devices that they devised.

Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of Gaza, And for four, I do not reverse it, Because of their removing a complete captivity, To deliver up to Edom,

Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of Moab, And for four, I do not reverse it, Because of his burning the bones of the king of Edom to lime,

For, lo, I am raising up the Chaldeans, The bitter and hasty nation, That is going to the broad places of earth, To occupy tabernacles not its own. Terrible and fearful it is, From itself its judgment and its excellency go forth. Swifter than leopards have been its horses, And sharper than evening wolves, And increased have its horsemen, Even its horsemen from afar come in, They fly as an eagle, hasting to consume.read more.
Wholly for violence it doth come in, Their faces swallowing up the east wind, And it doth gather as the sand a captivity. And at kings it doth scoff, And princes are a laughter to it, At every fenced place it doth laugh, And it heapeth up dust, and captureth it. Then passed on hath the spirit, Yea, he doth transgress, And doth ascribe this his power to his god.

and I saw, and lo, a pale horse, and he who is sitting upon him -- his name is Death, and Hades doth follow with him, and there was given to them authority to kill, (over the fourth part of the land,) with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the land.

And the likenesses of the locusts are like to horses made ready to battle, and upon their heads as crowns like gold, and their faces as faces of men, and they had hair as hair of women, and their teeth were as those of lions, and they had breastplates as breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings is as the noise of chariots of many horses running to battle;read more.
and they have tails like to scorpions, and stings were in their tails; and their authority is to injure men five months;

and enmity I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he doth bruise thee -- the head, and thou dost bruise him -- the heel.'

And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, 'Lo, he is in thy hand; only his life take care of.' And the Adversary goeth forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smiteth Job with a sore ulcer from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

And he sheweth me Joshua the high priest standing before the messenger of Jehovah, and the Adversary standing at his right hand, to be an adversary to him.

And the Adversary entered into Judas, who is surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve, and he, having gone away, spake with the chief priests and the magistrates, how he might deliver him up to them,

Be sober, vigilant, because your opponent the devil, as a roaring lion, doth walk about, seeking whom he may swallow up,

'Be not afraid of the things that thou art about to suffer; lo, the devil is about to cast of you to prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days; become thou faithful unto death, and I will give to thee the crown of the life.

if the world doth hate you, ye know that it hath hated me before you;

Do not wonder, my brethren, if the world doth hate you;

and those husbandmen said among themselves -- This is the heir, come, we may kill him, and ours shall be the inheritance;

because of this, then, were the Jews seeking the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the sabbath, but he also called God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

if of the world ye were, the world its own would have been loving, and because of the world ye are not -- but I chose out of the world -- because of this the world hateth you.

I have given to them Thy word, and the world did hate them, because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world;

confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting to remain in the faith, and that through many tribulations it behoveth us to enter into the reign of God,

for ye became imitators, brethren, of the assemblies of God that are in Judea in Christ Jesus, because such things ye suffered, even ye, from your own countrymen, as also they from the Jews, who did both put to death the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and did persecute us, and God they are not pleasing, and to all men are contrary,

See ye what love the Father hath given to us, that children of God we may be called; because of this the world doth not know us, because it did not know Him;

'And take ye heed to yourselves, for they shall deliver you up to sanhedrims, and to synagogues, ye shall be beaten, and before governors and kings ye shall be set for my sake, for a testimony to them;

and Jezebel sendeth a messenger unto Elijah, saying, 'Thus doth the gods, and thus do they add, surely about this time to-morrow, I make thy life as the life of one of them.'

And it cometh to pass, when it hath been heard by Sanballat, and Tobiah, and by Geshem the Arabian, and by the rest of our enemies, that I have builded the wall, and there hath not been left in it a breach, (also, till that time the doors I had not set up in the gates,)

Shin. Princes have pursued me without cause, And because of Thy words was my heart afraid.

And they take Jeremiah, and cast him into the pit of Malchiah son of the king, that is in the court of the prison, and they send down Jeremiah with cords; and in the pit there is no water, but mire, and Jeremiah sinketh in the mire.

Then Nebuchadnezzar, in anger and fury, hath said to bring in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. Then these men have been brought in before the king. Nebuchadnezzar hath answered and said to them, 'Is it a laid plan, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego -- my gods ye are not serving, and to the golden image that I have raised up ye are not doing obeisance? Now, lo, ye are ready, so that at the time that ye hear the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, and the symphony, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and do obeisance to the image that I have made! -- and lo, ye do no obeisance -- in that hour ye are cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; who is that God who doth deliver you out of my hands?'read more.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego have answered, yea, they are saying to the king Nebuchadnezzar, 'We have no need concerning this matter to answer thee. Lo, it is; our God whom we are serving, is able to deliver us from a burning fiery furnace; and from thy hand, O king, He doth deliver.

And, take ye heed of men, for they will give you up to sanhedrims, and in their synagogues they will scourge you,

And about that time, Herod the king put forth his hands, to do evil to certain of those of the assembly, and he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword, and having seen that it is pleasing to the Jews, he added to lay hold of Peter also -- and they were the days of the unleavened food --

Because of this also, we -- we do give thanks to God continually, that, having received the word of hearing from us of God, ye accepted, not the word of man, but as it is truly, the word of God, who also doth work in you who believe; for ye became imitators, brethren, of the assemblies of God that are in Judea in Christ Jesus, because such things ye suffered, even ye, from your own countrymen, as also they from the Jews, who did both put to death the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and did persecute us, and God they are not pleasing, and to all men are contrary,read more.
forbidding us to speak to the nations that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always, but the anger did come upon them -- to the end!

And it cometh to pass, at the completion of Jeremiah's speaking all that Jehovah hath commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests, and the prophets, and all the people catch him, saying, Thou dost surely die,

And Amaziah saith unto Amos, 'Seer, go flee for thee unto the land of Judah, and eat there bread, and there thou dost prophesy; and at Beth-El do not add to prophesy any more, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is the royal house.'

'Because of this, lo, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, and of them ye will kill and crucify, and of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and will pursue from city to city; that on you may come all the righteous blood being poured out on the earth from the blood of Abel the righteous, unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar: verily I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.read more.
'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that art killing the prophets, and stoning those sent unto thee, how often did I will to gather thy children together, as a hen doth gather her own chickens under the wings, and ye did not will.

for gathered together of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, were both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with nations and peoples of Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy counsel did determine before to come to pass. 'And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings, and grant to Thy servants with all freedom to speak Thy word,

And having risen, the chief priest, and all those with him -- being the sect of the Sadducees -- were filled with zeal, and laid their hands upon the apostles, and did put them in a public prison;

'And this way I persecuted unto death, binding and delivering up to prisons both men and women,

and there was given to it to make war with the saints, and to overcome them, and there was given to it authority over every tribe, and tongue, and nation.

And I saw the woman drunken from the blood of the saints, and from the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, and I did wonder -- having seen her -- with great wonder;

and the enemies of a man are those of his household.

For a son is dishonouring a father, A daughter hath stood against her mother, A daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, The enemies of each are the men of his house.

And Cain saith unto Abel his brother, 'Let us go into the field;' and it cometh to pass in their being in the field, that Cain riseth up against Abel his brother, and slayeth him.

'And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and father child, and children shall rise up against parents, and shall put them to death,

and his friends having heard, went forth to lay hold on him, for they said that he was beside himself,

but as then he who was born according to the flesh did persecute him according to the spirit, so also now;

wherefore I am well pleased in infirmities, in damages, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses -- for Christ; for whenever I am infirm, then I am powerful;

After whom hath the king of Israel come out? after whom art thou pursuing? -- after a dead dog! after one flea!

To the Overseer. -- 'Destroy not,' by David. -- A secret treasure, in Saul's sending, and they watch the house to put him to death. Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God, From my withstanders set me on high. Deliver me from workers of iniquity, And from men of blood save me. For, lo, they laid wait for my soul, Assembled against me are strong ones, Not my transgression nor my sin, O Jehovah.read more.
Without punishment they run and prepare themselves, Stir up to meet me, and see.

To the Overseer. -- A Psalm of David. Hear, O God, my voice, in my meditation, From the fear of an enemy Thou keepest my life, Hidest me from the secret counsel of evil doers, From the tumult of workers of iniquity. Who sharpened as a sword their tongue, They directed their arrow -- a bitter word.read more.
To shoot in secret places the perfect, Suddenly they shoot him, and fear not.

on every side being in tribulation, but not straitened; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; at all times the dying of the Lord Jesus bearing about in the body, that the life also of Jesus in our body may be manifested,read more.
for always are we who are living delivered up to death because of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our dying flesh, so that, the death indeed in us doth work, and the life in you.

ministrants of Christ are they? -- as beside myself I speak -- I more; in labours more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths many times; from Jews five times forty stripes save one I did receive; thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice was I shipwrecked, a night and a day in the deep I have passed;read more.
journeyings many times, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from kindred, perils from nations, perils in city, perils in wilderness, perils in sea, perils among false brethren;

And what shall I yet say? for the time will fail me recounting about Gideon, Barak also, and Samson, and Jephthah, David also, and Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith did subdue kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the mouth of the sword, were made powerful out of infirmities, became strong in battle, caused to give way camps of the aliens.read more.
Women received by a rising again their dead, and others were tortured, not accepting the redemption, that a better rising again they might receive, and others of mockings and scourgings did receive trial, and yet of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tried; in the killing of the sword they died; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins -- being destitute, afflicted, injuriously treated, of whom the world was not worthy; in deserts wandering, and in mountains, and in caves, and in the holes of the earth;

and all also who will to live piously in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted,

and he hath not root in himself, but is temporary, and persecution or tribulation having happened because of the word, immediately he is stumbled.

And Jesus answering said, 'Verily I say to you, there is no one who left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for my sake, and for the good news', who may not receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and fields, with persecutions, and in the age that is coming, life age-during;

for even when we were with you, we said to you beforehand, that we are about to suffer tribulation, as also it did come to pass, and ye have known it;

'For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places; and all these are the beginning of sorrows; then they shall deliver you up to tribulation, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated by all the nations because of my name;read more.
and then shall many be stumbled, and they shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another.

let not any one deceive you in any manner, because -- if the falling away may not come first, and the man of sin be revealed -- the son of the destruction, who is opposing and is raising himself up above all called God or worshipped, so that he in the sanctuary of God as God hath sat down, shewing himself off that he is God -- the day doth not come.

and there was given to each one white robes, and it was said to them that they may rest themselves yet a little time, till may be fulfilled also their fellow-servants and their brethren, who are about to be killed -- even as they.

The face of Jehovah hath divided them, He doth not add to behold them, The face of priests they have not lifted up, Elders they have not favoured. While we exist -- consumed are our eyes for our vain help, In our watch-tower we have watched for a nation that saveth not. They have hunted our steps from going in our broad-places, Near hath been our end, fulfilled our days, For come hath our end.read more.
Swifter have been our pursuers, Than the eagles of the heavens, On the mountains they have burned after us, In the wilderness they have laid wait for us.

Thus said Jehovah: Lo, a people hath come from a north country, And a great nation is stirred up from the sides of the earth. Bow and javelin they take hold of, Fierce it is, and they have no mercy, Their voice as a sea doth sound, And on horses they ride, set in array as a man of war, Against thee, O daughter of Zion. 'We have heard its sound, feeble have been our hands, Distress hath seized us, pain as of a travailing woman.read more.
Go not forth to the field, And in the way walk not, For a sword hath the enemy, fear is round about. O daughter of My people, Gird on sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes, The mourning of an only one make for thee, A lamentation most bitter, For suddenly come doth the spoiler against us.

And the word of Jehovah is unto Jeremiah, saying: Lo, I am Jehovah, God of all flesh: For Me is anything too wonderful? 'Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am giving this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he hath captured it;read more.
And come in have the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city, and they have set this city on fire, and have burned it, and the houses on whose roofs they made perfume to Baal, and poured out libations to other gods, so as to provoke Me to anger.

And the forces of the Chaldeans pursue after them, and overtake Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and they take him, and bring him up unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he speaketh with him -- judgments. And the king of Babylon slaughtereth the sons of Zedekiah, in Riblah, before his eyes, yea, all the freemen of Judah hath the king of Babylon slaughtered. And the eyes of Zedekiah he hath blinded, and he bindeth him with brazen fetters, to bring him in to Babylon.read more.
And the house of the king, and the house of the people, have the Chaldeans burnt with fire, and the walls of Jerusalem they have broken down. And the remnant of the people who are left in the city, and those falling who have fallen to him, and the remnant of the people who are left, hath Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, removed to Babylon. And of the poor people, who have nothing, hath Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, left in the land of Judah, and he giveth to them vineyards and fields on the same day.

For they have pursued him Thou hast smitten, And recount of the pain of Thy pierced ones.

and because of this were the Jews persecuting Jesus, and seeking to kill him, because these things he was doing on a sabbath.

My back I have given to those smiting, And my cheeks to those plucking out, My face I hid not from shame and spitting.

It hath been exacted, and he hath answered, And he openeth not his mouth, As a lamb to the slaughter he is brought, And as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, And he openeth not his mouth.

who may not receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and fields, with persecutions, and in the age that is coming, life age-during;

and before all these, they shall lay on you their hands, and persecute, delivering up to synagogues and prisons, being brought before kings and governors for my name's sake;

'Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his lord; if me they did persecute, you also they will persecute; if my word they did keep, yours also they will keep;

Thou, Thou hast known, O Jehovah, Remember me, and inspect me, And take vengeance for me of my pursuers, In Thy long-suffering take me not away, Know -- I have borne for Thee reproach.

For thus said Jehovah of Hosts: After honour He hath sent me unto the nations who are spoiling you, For he who is coming against you, Is coming against the daughter of His eye.

and having fallen upon the earth, he heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why me dost thou persecute?' And he said, 'Who art thou, Lord?' and the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom thou dost persecute; hard for thee at the pricks to kick;'