58 Bible Verses about Persecution, Forms Of

Now the high priest rose up and all those [who were] with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), [and] they were filled with jealousy. And they laid hands on the apostles and put them in the public prison.

And he possessed sheep and cattle and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. And the Philistines stopped up all the wells that the servants of his father had dug in the days of Abraham his father. They filled them with earth.

When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and were not able to speak peaceably to him.

{Saul became very angry}, and {this saying displeased him}, and he thought, "They have attributed to David ten thousands, but to me they have attributed thousands! {What more can he have but the kingdom}?" So Saul was watching David [with suspicion] from that day onward.

And they were jealous of Moses in the camp, [and] of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh.

{It pleased Darius}, and he set up one hundred and twenty satraps over the kingdom, that they were {throughout the whole kingdom}, and over them [were] three administrators, [of] whom Daniel [was] one, [so] that these satraps were giving account to them, and the king would not be suffering loss. Then Daniel {began distinguishing himself} above the administrators and the satraps {because} an exceptional spirit [was] in him, and [so] the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom.read more.
Then the [other] administrators and satraps {began to seek} to find pretext against Daniel {in connection with the kingdom}, but they were not able to find any pretext and {corruption} {because} he was trustworthy, and no negligence or {corruption} {could be found in him}. Then these men {said}, "We will not find any pretext against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God."

(For he knew that they had handed him over because of envy.

But [when] the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began contradicting what was being said by Paul [by] reviling [him].

For where [there is] jealousy and selfish ambition, there [is] disorder and every evil practice.

And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they could destroy him, because they were afraid of the people.

Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, lest they become many, and when war happens, they also will join our enemies and will fight against us and go up from the land."

but when Saul saw that he [was] very successful, {he was severely threatened by him}.

And [when] King Herod heard [it], he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him,

Now there happened at that time no little disturbance concerning the Way. For someone {named} Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver replicas of the temple of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen. {These} he gathered together, and the workers occupied with such things, [and] said, "Men, you know that from this business {we get our prosperity},read more.
and you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this man Paul has persuaded [and] turned away a large crowd [by] saying that the [gods] made by hands are not gods. So not only is there a danger this line of business of ours [will] come into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis [will] be regarded as nothing--and [she] is about to be brought down even from her grandeur, [she] whom the whole [of] Asia and the [entire] world worship!"

not as Cain, who was of the evil one and violently murdered his brother. And {for what reason} did he violently murder him? Because his deeds were evil and the [deeds] of his brother [were] righteous.

And {in the course of time} Cain brought an offering from the fruit of the ground to Yahweh, and Abel also brought [an offering] from {the choicest firstlings of his flock}. And Yahweh looked with favor to Abel and to his offering, but to Cain and to his offering he did not look with favor. And Cain became very angry, and his face fell.read more.
And Yahweh said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why is your face fallen? If you do well {will I not accept you}? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire [is] for you, but you must rule over it." Then Cain said to his brother Abel, ["Let us go out into the field."] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "[There is] still one man to inquire from Yahweh, but I despise him, for he never prophesies [anything] good concerning me, but only bad: Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not say so."

Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "[There is] yet one man by whom to seek Yahweh, but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but {always} disaster. He [is] Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say thus."

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I am testifying about it, that its deeds are evil.

Those who seek my life lay snares as well, and those intent on my harm speak threats. They also plot deceit all day.

Seat two men, {scoundrels}, opposite him. Let them witness against him saying, 'You cursed God and the king.' Then you shall bring him out and stone him so that he dies."

be it known to the king that the Jews who have come up from near you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are building the rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the wall and repairing the foundation. Now be it known to the king that if this city is built and the walls are finished, they will not pay tribute and toll, and the royal revenue will be reduced.

Violent witnesses rise up; they ask me [concerning] what I do not know.

For I hear the rumor of many, "Terror [is] from all around, denounce [him], yes, let us denounce him!" {All my close friends} [are] watchers of my stumbling, [saying], "perhaps he can be persuaded, and we can prevail over him, and we can take our revenge on him."

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam the king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to endure all of his words.

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute [you] and say all kinds of evil things against you, lying on account of me.

And there was a lot of grumbling concerning him among the crowds; some were saying, "He is a good [man]," but others were saying, "No, but he deceives the crowd."

Then they secretly instigated men who said, "We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God!"

And they have been informed about you that you are teaching all the Jews [who are] among the Gentiles [the] abandonment of Moses, telling them not to circumcise [their] children or to live according to [our] customs.

For we have found this man [to be] a public menace and one who causes riots among all the Jews throughout the Roman Empire and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,

His mouth is filled with cursing, with deceits and oppression; under his tongue are trouble and evil.

Then the people of the land discouraged {the people of Judah} and made them afraid to build

Now if you are ready so that {when} you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, [the] trigon, [the] harp and [the] drum and all kinds of music, you fall down and you worship the statue that I have made, [that will be good]. But if you do not worship it, {immediately} you will be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire, and {who is the god} who will rescue you from my hands?"

(His parents said these [things] because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already decided that if anyone should confess him [to be] Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue.

But in order that it may not spread much [further] among the people, let us warn them to speak no more in this name {to anyone at all}."

Now it happened when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, [he] became angry and greatly provoked, and he mocked the Jews. Then he said before his brothers and the army of Samaria, "What are the feeble Jews doing? Will they restore [these things] for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the piles of rubble--even those burned up?" Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him and said, "Their wall of stone that they are building would break down if a fox went on it!"

The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come; Israel knows! The prophet [is] a fool, the man of the spirit [is] acting like a madman. Because of the greatness of your sin, [your] hostility [is] great.

[when we are] slandered, we encourage. We have become like the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all [things], until now.

So we must go out to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.

'I know your affliction and poverty (but you are rich), and the slander of those {who call themselves Jews} and are not, but [are] a synagogue of Satan.

and you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end--this one will be saved.

We know that God has spoken to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from."

Yet despite that, even many of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess [it], so that they would not be expelled from the synagogue.

{They will expel you from the synagogue}, but an hour is coming that everyone who kills you will think they are offering service to God.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? [Will] affliction or distress or persecution or hunger or lack of sufficient clothing or danger or the sword?

So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit [of] Malchiah, the son of the king, which [was] in the courtyard of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now in the pit there was no water, {but only} mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

But beware of people, because they will hand you over to councils, and they will flog you in their synagogues.

"But you, watch out for yourselves! They will hand you over to councils and you will be beaten in the synagogues and will have to stand before governors and kings because of me, for a witness to them.

Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you tied [your clothes] around yourself and walked wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will tie you up and carry [you] where you do not want [to go]. (Now he said this to indicate by what kind of death he would glorify God.) And [after he] had said this, he said to him, "Follow me!"

And they summoned the apostles, beat [them], commanded [them] not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released [them].

But Paul said to them, "They beat us in public without due process--men who are Roman citizens--[and] threw [us] into prison, and now they are wanting to release us secretly? Certainly not! Rather let them come themselves [and] bring us out!"

Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. A day and a night I have spent in the deep water.

Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I carry on my body the marks of Jesus.

And others {experienced mocking and flogging}, and in addition bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by murder with a sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, impoverished, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about on deserts and mountains and in caves and in holes in the ground.read more.
And [although they] all were approved through their faith, they did not receive what was promised,

[although I] was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, but I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief,

"But at the end of {that period}, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and [then] my reason returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and {the one who lives forever} I praised and I honored. "For his sovereignty [is] [an] everlasting sovereignty, and his kingdom [continues] from generation to generation. And all the dwellers of the earth are regarded as nothing, and he does {according to} his desire in the host of heaven and [among] the dwellers of earth, and there is not [one] who can hold back his hand, or {ask him}, 'What are you doing?'

Now at that time, Herod the king laid hands on some of those from the church to harm [them].

and they were only hearing, "The one formerly persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith that formerly he was attempting to destroy,"