Matthew 10:16-25 - Persecution Of Disciples Predicted

¹⁶ "I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Beware of people, because they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues. ¹⁸ And you will be brought before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them and the Gentiles. ¹⁹ Whenever they hand you over for trial, do not worry about how to speak or what to say, for what you should say will be given to you at that time. ²⁰ For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹ "Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against parents and have them put to death. ²² And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ Whenever they persecute you in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. ²⁴ "A disciple is not greater than his teacher, nor a slave greater than his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house 'Beelzebul,' how much more will they defame the members of his household!

⁹ "Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. ¹⁰ Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, ¹² and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the person who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

⁹ "You must watch out for yourselves. You will be handed over to councils and beaten in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them. ¹⁰ First the gospel must be preached to all nations. ¹¹ When they arrest you and hand you over for trial, do not worry about what to speak. But say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. ¹² Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against parents and have them put to death. ¹³ You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

¹² But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. ¹³ This will be a time for you to serve as witnesses. ¹⁴ Therefore be resolved not to rehearse ahead of time how to make your defense. ¹⁵ For I will give you the words along with the wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. ¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will have some of you put to death. ¹⁷ You will be hated by everyone because of my name. ¹⁸ Yet not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹ By your endurance you will gain your lives.

¹ "I have told you all these things so that you will not fall away. ² They will put you out of the synagogue, yet a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³ They will do these things because they have not known the Father or me. ⁴ But I have told you these things so that when their time comes, you will remember that I told you about them. "I did not tell you these things from the beginning because I was with you.