56 Bible Verses about enemies, of believers

If the world hates you, remember it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what it owned; it is because you do not belong to the world, because I have chosen you from the world, that the world hates you.

I have given them thy word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

Yes, and all who want to live the religious life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

None of you must suffer as a murderer or a thief or a bad character or a revolutionary; but if a man suffers for being a Christian, he must not be ashamed, he must rather glorify God for that.

Do not wonder, brothers, that the world hates you.

Then shall the King say to those on his right, 'Come, you whom my Father has blessed, come into your inheritance in the realm prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you entertained me, I was unclothed and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you visited me.'read more.
Then the just will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and fed you? or thirsty and gave you drink? when did we see you a stranger and entertain you? or unclothed and clothed you? when did we see you ill or in prison and visit you?' The King will answer them, 'I tell you truly, in so far as you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even to the least of them, you did it to me.'

And whoever is a hindrance to one of these little ones who believe, it were better for him to have a great millstone hung round his neck and be thrown into the sea.

To his disciples he said, "It is inevitable that hindrances should come, but woe to the man by whom they come;

he dropped to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you?" he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, "and you persecute me.

and you will be hated by all men on account of my name; but he will be saved who holds out to the very end.

and you will be hated by all men on account of my name; but he will be saved who holds out to the very end.

They will do all this to you on account of my name, because they know not him who sent me.

Do not imagine I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; yes, a man's own household will be his enemies.

You think I am here to make peace on earth? No, I tell you, it is dissension. After this there will be five at issue in one house, three divided against two and two against three, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

Brother will betray brother to death, the father will betray his child, children will rise against their parents and put them to death,

Brother will betray brother to death, the father will betray his child, children will rise against their parents and kill them,

So they called the men in and ordered them not to speak or teach a single sentence about the Name of Jesus.

"We strictly forbade you to teach about this Name, did we not? And here you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine! You want to make us responsible for this man's death!"

but Saul made havoc of the church by entering one house after another, dragging off men and women, and consigning them to prison.

Meanwhile Saul still breathed threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus empowering him to put any man or woman in chains whom he could find belonging to the Way, and bring them to Jerusalem.

Still, false prophets did appear among the People, as among you also there will be false teachers, men who will insinuate destructive heresies, even disowning the Lord who ransomed them; they bring rapid destruction on themselves,

They will excommunicate you; indeed the time is coming when anyone who kills you will imagine he is performing a service to God.

"Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of man standing at God's right hand!" With a loud shriek they shut their ears and rushed at him like one man. Putting him outside the city, they proceeded to stone him (the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a youth called Saul).read more.
So they stoned Stephen, who called on the Lord, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" Then he knelt down and cried aloud, "Lord, let not this sin stand against them!" With these words he slept the sleep of death.

It was about that time that king Herod laid hands of violence on some members of the church. James the brother of John he slew with the sword,

I once believed it my duty indeed actively to oppose the name of Jesus the Nazarene. I did so in Jerusalem. I shut up many of the saints in prison, armed with authority from the high priests; when they were put to death, I voted against them;

And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain for adhering to God's word and to the testimony which they bore;

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven: he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.

I tell you, my hearers, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you: bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If a man strikes you on the one cheek, offer him the other as well: if anyone takes your coat, do not deny him your shirt as well;

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing." Then they distributed his clothes among themselves by drawing lots.

So they stoned Stephen, who called on the Lord, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" Then he knelt down and cried aloud, "Lord, let not this sin stand against them!" With these words he slept the sleep of death.

Bless those who make a practice of persecuting you; bless them instead of cursing them.

never paying back evil for evil, never reviling when you are reviled, but on the contrary blessing. For this is your vocation, to bless and to inherit blessing;

and forgive us our debts as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.' For if you forgive men their trespasses, then your heavenly Father will forgive you;read more.
but if you do not forgive men, your Father will not forgive your trespasses either.

and forgive us our sins for we do forgive everyone who has offended us; and lead us not into temptation."

and when they came to the place called The Skull they crucified him there along with the criminals, one at his right and one at his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing." Then they distributed his clothes among themselves by drawing lots.

if your enemy is hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty, give him drink; for in this way you will make him feel a burning sense of shame.

Now a jurist got up to tempt him. "Teacher," he said, "what am I to do to inherit life eternal?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" He replied, "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, with your whole strength, and with your whole mind. Also your neighbour as yourself."read more.
"A right answer!" said Jesus; "do that and you will live." Anxious to make an excuse for himself, however, he said to Jesus, "But who is my neighbour?" Jesus rejoined, "A man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among robbers who stripped and belaboured him and then went off leaving him half-dead. Now it so chanced that a priest was going down the same road, but on seeing him he went past on the opposite side. So did a Levite who came to the spot; he looked at him but passed on the opposite side. However a Samaritan traveller came to where he was and felt pity when he saw him; he went to him, bound his wounds up, pouring oil and wine into them, mounted him on his own steed, took him to an inn, and attended to him. Next morning he took out a couple of shillings and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Attend to him, and if you are put to any extra expense I will refund you on my way back.' Which of these three men, in your opinion, proved a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The man who took pity on him." Jesus said to him, "Then go and do the same."

Do not let evil get the better of you; get the better of evil by doing good.

Keep cool, keep awake. Your enemy the devil prowls like a roaring lion, looking out for someone to devour.

Simon, Simon, Satan has claimed the right to sift you all like wheat,

But the Lord supported me and gave me strength to make a full statement of the gospel and let all the heathen hear it. I was rescued from the jaws of the lion. The Lord will rescue me from every assault of evil, he will bring me safe to his own realm in heaven. To him be glory for ever and ever! Amen.

Resist him; keep your foothold in the faith, and learn to pay the same tax of suffering as the rest of your brotherhood throughout the world.

the weapons of my warfare are not weapons of the flesh, but divinely strong to demolish fortresses ??5 I demolish theories and any rampart thrown up to resist the knowledge of God, I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ,

To conclude. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might; put on God's armour so as to be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil. For we have to struggle, not with blood and flesh but with the angelic Rulers, the angelic Authorities, the potentates of the dark present, the spirit-forces of evil in the heavenly sphere.read more.
So take God's armour, that you may be able to make a stand upon the evil day and hold your ground by overcoming all the foe. Hold your ground, tighten the belt of truth about your loins, wear integrity as your coat of mail, and have your feet shod with the stability of the gospel of peace; above all, take faith as your shield, to enable you to quench all the fire-tipped darts flung by the evil one, put on salvation as your helmet, and take the Spirit as your sword (that is, the word of God), praying at all times in the Spirit with all manner of prayer and entreaty ??be alive to that, attend to it unceasingly, interceding on behalf of all the saints

So I prefer young widows to marry again, to bear children, to look after their households, and not to afford our opponents any chance of reviling us. As it is, some widows have already turned after Satan. ??16 Any believer, man or woman, who has widowed relatives, must give them relief; the church is not to be burdened with them; she has to relieve the widows who really need relief.

I have fought in the good fight; I have run my course; I have kept the faith.

Well then, submit yourselves to God; resist the devil, and he will fly from you:

I pray not that thou wilt take them out of the world, but that thou wilt keep them from the evil one.

Have no fear of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul: rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unless your Father wills it. The very hairs on your head are all numbered;read more.
fear not, then, you are worth far more than sparrows!

he has raised up a strong saviour for us in the house of his servant David

but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail. And you in turn must be a strength to your brothers."

Now the crown of a good life awaits me, with which the Lord, that just Judge, will reward me on the great Day ??and not only me but all who have loved and longed for his appearance.

(Death is the last foe to be put down.)

and has now revealed in the appearance of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has put down death and brought life and immortality to light by the gospel.

Then Death and Hades were flung into the lake of fire,

he will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more ??no more wailing or crying or pain, for the first things have passed away."