16 Bible Verses about Martyrdom, Reasons For

and whoever does not fall down and worship shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, We are not careful to answer thee in this matter. Behold, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not worship thy god, nor honour the statue which thou hast raised up.

All the presidents of the kingdom, magistrates, governors, great ones, and captains have agreed in common accord to promote a royal decree and to confirm it that whoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, except of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

For the ships of Chittim shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved and return and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return and have an understanding with those that have forsaken the holy covenant. And arms shall be placed on his behalf, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that makes desolate. And with flatteries he shall cause to sin those that violate the covenant, but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.read more.
And the wise among the people shall give wisdom to many, yet they shall fall by the sword, and by fire, by captivity, and by spoil, for some days.

And it was given unto him to endue the image of the beast with spirit, so that the image of the beast should speak, and he shall cause those that do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

Nevertheless, they were contentious and rebelled against thee and cast thy law behind their backs and slew thy prophets who testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great abominations.

and said unto his slaves, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John and bound him and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.read more.
And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatever she would ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John the Baptist's head in a platter. And the king was sorry; nevertheless because of the oath and of those who sat with him at the table, he commanded it to be given her. And he sent and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought in a platter and given to the damsel, and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took up the body and buried it and went and told Jesus.

For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him and would have killed him, but she could not;read more.
for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and respected him; and when he heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly. And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his princes and tribunes and to the principal people of Galilee; and when the daughter of Herodias came in and danced and pleased Herod and those that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it unto thee. And he swore unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it unto thee, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in with haste unto the king and asked, saying, I will that thou give me immediately in a platter the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry, yet for his oath's sake and for the sakes of those who sat with him, he would not reject her. And straightway the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought, and he went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head in a platter and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse and laid it in a tomb.

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do ye. Who of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted? and they have slain those who announced before the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have now been the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it.read more.
When they heard these things, they were divided in their hearts and gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. And crying out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord; and casting him out of the city, they stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And those of the peoples and kindreds and tongues and Gentiles shall see their dead bodies three days and a half and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.read more.
And those that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and make merry and shall send gifts one to another because these two prophets tormented those that dwelt on the earth.

Then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

Now the brother shall deliver the brother unto death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents and shall kill them. And ye shall be hated by everyone for my name, but he that shall persevere unto the end, the same shall be saved.

And ye shall be betrayed both by parents and brethren and kinsfolk and friends, and some of you they shall cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.

Not as Cain, who was of the wicked one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those that had been slain because of the word of God and for the testimony which they held: