72 Bible Verses about Persecution, Nature Of

The evil-doer in his pride is cruel to the poor; let him be taken by the tricks of his invention.

These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Gaza, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because they took all the people away prisoners, to give them up to Edom.

These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Moab, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because he had the bones of the king of Edom burned to dust.

For see, I am sending the Chaldaeans, that bitter and quick-moving nation; who go through the wide spaces of the earth to get for themselves living-places which are not theirs. They are greatly to be feared: their right comes from themselves. And their horses are quicker than leopards and their horsemen more cruel than evening wolves; they come from far away, like an eagle in flight rushing on its food.read more.
They are coming all of them with force; the direction of their faces is forward, the number of their prisoners is like the sands of the sea. He makes little of kings, rulers are a sport to him; all the strong places are to be laughed at; for he makes earthworks and takes them. Then his purpose will be changed, over-stepping the limit; he will make his strength his god.

And I saw a grey horse, and the name of him who was seated on it was Death; and Hell came after him. And there was given to them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to put to destruction by the sword, and by taking away their food, and by death, and by the beasts of the earth.

And the forms of the locusts were like horses made ready for war; and on their heads they had crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates like iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of carriages, like an army of horses rushing to the fight.read more.
And they have pointed tails like scorpions; and in their tails is their power to give men wounds for five months.

And there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed: by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded.

And the Lord said to the Satan, See, he is in your hands, only do not take his life. And the Satan went out from before the Lord, and sent on Job an evil disease covering his skin from his feet to the top of his head.

And he let me see Joshua, the high priest, in his place before the angel of the Lord, and the Satan at his right hand ready to take up a cause against him.

And Satan came into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve. And he went away and had a discussion with the chief priests and the rulers, about how he might give him up to them.

Be serious and keep watch; the Evil One, who is against you, goes about like a lion with open mouth in search of food;

Have no fear of the things which you will have to undergo: see, the Evil One will send some of you into prison, so that you may be put to the test; and you will have great trouble for ten days. Be true till death, and I will give you the crown of life.

If you are hated by the world, keep in mind that I was hated by the world before you.

Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world has no love for you.

But those workmen said among themselves, This is he who will one day be the owner of the property; come, let us put him to death, and the heritage will be ours.

For this cause the Jews had an even greater desire to put Jesus to death, because not only did he not keep the Sabbath but he said God was his Father, so making himself equal with God.

If you were of the world, you would be loved by the world: but because you are not of the world, but I have taken you out of the world, you are hated by the world.

I have given your word to them; and they are hated by the world, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Making strong the souls of the disciples, saying to them that they were to keep the faith, and that we have to go through troubles of all sorts to come into the kingdom of God.

For you, my brothers, took as your examples the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus; because you underwent the same things from your countrymen as they did from the Jews; Who put to death the Lord Jesus and the prophets, violently driving us out; who are unpleasing to God and against all men;

See what great love the Father has given us in naming us the children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not see who we are, because it did not see who he was.

But take care: for they will give you up to the Sanhedrins; and in Synagogues you will be whipped; and you will be taken before rulers and kings because of me, for a sign to them.

Then Jezebel sent a servant to Elijah, saying, May the gods' punishment be on me if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.

Now when word was given to Sanballat and Tobiah and to Geshem the Arabian and to the rest of our haters, that I had done the building of the wall and that there were no more broken places in it (though even then I had not put up the doors in the doorways);

Rulers have been cruel to me without cause; but I have the fear of your word in my heart.

So they took Jeremiah and put him into the water-hole of Malchiah, the king's son, in the place of the armed watchmen: and they let Jeremiah down with cords. And in the hole there was no water, but wet earth: and Jeremiah went down into the wet earth.

Then Nebuchadnezzar in his wrath and passion gave orders for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to be sent for. Then they made these men come in before the king. Nebuchadnezzar made answer and said to them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you will not be servants of my god or give worship to the image of gold which I have put up? Now if you are ready, on hearing the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all sorts of instruments, to go down on your faces in worship before the image which I have made, it is well: but if you will not give worship, that same hour you will be put into a burning and flaming fire; and what god is there who will be able to take you out of my hands?read more.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answering Nebuchadnezzar the king, said, There is no need for us to give you an answer to this question. If our God, whose servants we are, is able to keep us safe from the burning and flaming fire, and from your hands, O King, he will keep us safe.

But be on the watch against men: for they will give you up to the Sanhedrins, and in their Synagogues they will give you blows;

Now, about that time, Herod the king made cruel attacks on the Christians. And he put James, the brother of John, to death with the sword. And when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he went on to take Peter in addition. This was at the time of the feast of unleavened bread.

And for this cause we still give praise to God, that, when the word came to your ears through us, you took it, not as the word of man, but, as it truly is, the word of God, which has living power in you who have faith. For you, my brothers, took as your examples the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus; because you underwent the same things from your countrymen as they did from the Jews; Who put to death the Lord Jesus and the prophets, violently driving us out; who are unpleasing to God and against all men;read more.
Who, to make the measure of their sins complete, kept us from giving the word of salvation to the Gentiles: but the wrath of God is about to come on them in the fullest degree.

Now, when Jeremiah had come to the end of saying everything the Lord had given him orders to say to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people took him by force, saying, Death will certainly be your fate.

And Amaziah said to Amos, O seer, go in flight into the land of Judah, and there get your living by working as a prophet: But be a prophet no longer at Beth-el: for it is the holy place of the king, and the king's house.

For this reason, I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them you will put to death and put on the cross, and to some of them you will give blows in your Synagogues, driving them from town to town; So that on you may come all the blood of the upright on the earth, from the blood of upright Abel to the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom you put to death between the Temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, All these things will come on this generationread more.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who are sent to her! Again and again would I have taken your children to myself as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, and you would not!

For, truly, in this town, against your holy servant, Jesus, who was marked out by you as Christ, Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, came together, To do that which had been fixed before by your hand and your purpose. And now, Lord, take note of their cruel words, and give your servants power to be preachers of your word without fear,

But the high priest and those who were with him (the Sadducees) were full of envy, And they took the Apostles and put them in the common prison.

And I made attacks on this Way, even to death, taking men and women and putting them in prison.

And it was given to him to make war on the saints and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and language and nation.

And I saw the woman overcome as with the wine of the blood of the saints, and the blood of those put to death because of Jesus. And when I saw her, I was overcome with a great wonder.

And a man will be hated by those of his house.

For the son puts shame on his father, the daughter goes against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's haters are those of his family.

And Cain said to his brother, Let us go into the field: and when they were in the field, Cain made an attack on his brother Abel and put him to death.

And brother will give up brother to death, and the father his child: and children will go against their fathers and mothers, and put them to death.

And when his friends had news of it, they went out to get him, saying, He is off his head.

But as in those days he who had birth after the flesh was cruel to him who had birth after the Spirit, even so it is now.

So I take pleasure in being feeble, in unkind words, in needs, in cruel attacks, in troubles, on account of Christ: for when I am feeble, then am I strong.

After whom has the king of Israel come out? for whom are you searching? for a dead dog, an insect.

Take me out of the hands of the cruel ones, O my God; keep me safe from those who come up against me. Take me out of the power of the workers of evil, and keep me safe from the men of blood. For see, they are watching in secret for my soul; the strong have come together against me? but not because of my sin, or my evil-doing, O Lord.read more.
For no sin of mine they go quickly and get themselves ready; be awake and come to my help, and see.

O God, let the voice of my grief come to your ear: keep my life from the fear of those who are against me. Keep me safe from the secret purpose of wrongdoers; from the band of the workers of evil; Who make their tongues sharp like a sword, and whose arrows are pointed, even bitter words;read more.
So that in secret they may let loose their arrows at the upright, suddenly and unseen.

Troubles are round us on every side, but we are not shut in; things are hard for us, but we see a way out of them; We are cruelly attacked, but not without hope; we are made low, but we are not without help; In our bodies there is ever the mark of the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be seen in our bodies.read more.
For, while living, we are still being given up to death because of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be seen in our flesh, though it is under the power of death. So then, death is working in us, but life in you.

Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking foolishly) I am more so; I have had more experience of hard work, of prisons, of blows more than measure, of death. Five times the Jews gave me forty blows but one. Three times I was whipped with rods, once I was stoned, three times the ship I was in came to destruction at sea, a night and a day I have been in the water;read more.
In frequent travels, in dangers on rivers, in dangers from outlaws, in dangers from my countrymen, in dangers from the Gentiles, in dangers in the town, in dangers in the waste land, in dangers at sea, in dangers among false brothers;

What more am I to say? For there would not be time to give the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets: Who through faith overcame kingdoms, did righteousness, got their reward, kept the mouths of lions shut, Put out the power of fire, got safely away from the edge of the sword, were made strong when they had been feeble, became full of power in war, and put to flight the armies of the nations.read more.
Women had their dead given back to them living; others let themselves be cruelly attacked, having no desire to go free, so that they might have a better life to come; And others were tested by being laughed at or by blows, and even with chains and prisons: They were stoned, they were cut up with knives, they were tested, they were put to death with the sword, they went about in sheepskins and in goatskins; being poor and in pain and cruelly attacked, Wandering in waste places and in mountains and in holes in the rocks; for whom the world was not good enough.

Yes, and all whose purpose is to be living in the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus, will be cruelly attacked.

But having no root in himself, he goes on for a time; and when trouble comes or pain, because of the word, he quickly becomes full of doubts.

Jesus said, Truly I say to you, There is no man who has given up house, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or land, because of me and the good news, Who will not get a hundred times as much now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and land--though with great troubles; and, in the world to come, eternal life.

And when we were with you, we said to you that trouble was before us; and so it came about, as you see.

For nation will be moved against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and men will be without food, and the earth will be shaking in different places; But all these things are the first of the troubles. Then they will be cruel to you, and will put you to death: and you will be hated by all nations because of my name.read more.
And numbers of people will be turned from the right way, and will give one another up and have hate for one another.

Give no belief to false words: because there will first be a falling away from the faith, and the revelation of the man of sin, the son of destruction, Who puts himself against all authority, lifting himself up over all which is named God or is given worship; so that he takes his seat in the Temple of God, putting himself forward as God.

And there was given to every one a white robe, and they were ordered to take their rest for a little time, till the number was complete of the other servants, their brothers, who would be put to death, even as they had been.

The face of the Lord has sent them in all directions; he will no longer take care of them: they had no respect for the priests, they gave no honour to the old men. Our eyes are still wasting away in looking for our false help: we have been watching for a nation unable to give salvation. They go after our steps so that we may not go in our streets: our end is near, our days are numbered; for our end has come.read more.
Those who went after us were quicker than the eagles of the heaven, driving us before them on the mountains, waiting secretly for us in the waste land.

The Lord has said, See, a people is coming from the north country, a great nation will be put in motion from the inmost parts of the earth. Bows and spears are in their hands; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice is like the thunder of the sea, and they go on horses; everyone in his place like men going to the fight, against you, O daughter of Zion. The news of it has come to our ears; our hands have become feeble: trouble has come on us and pain, like the pain of a woman in childbirth.read more.
Go not out into the field or by the way; for there is the sword of the attacker, and fear on every side. O daughter of my people, put on haircloth, rolling yourself in the dust: give yourself to sorrow, as for an only son, with most bitter cries of grief; for he who makes waste will come on us suddenly.

And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, See, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything so hard that I am unable to do it? So this is what the Lord has said: See, I am giving this town into the hands of the Chaldaeans and into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will take it:read more.
And the Chaldaeans, who are fighting against this town, will come and put the town on fire, burning it together with the houses, on the roofs of which perfumes have been burned to the Baal, and drink offerings have been drained out to other gods, moving me to wrath.

But the Chaldaean army went after them and overtook Zedekiah in the lowlands of Jericho: and they made him a prisoner and took him up to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, to be judged by him. Then the king of Babylon put the sons of Zedekiah to death before his eyes in Riblah: and the king of Babylon put to death all the great men of Judah. And more than this, he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and had him put in chains to take him away to Babylon.read more.
And the Chaldaeans put the king's house on fire, as well as the houses of the people, and had the walls of Jerusalem broken down. Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, took away to Babylon as prisoners, all the rest of the workmen who were still in the town, as well as those who had given themselves up to him, and all the rest of the people. But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, let the poorest of the people, who had nothing whatever, go on living in the land of Judah, and gave them vine-gardens and fields at the same time.

Because they are cruel to him against whom your hand is turned; they make bitter the grief of him who is wounded by you.

And for this reason the Jews were turned against Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

I was offering my back to those who gave me blows, and my face to those who were pulling out my hair: I did not keep my face covered from marks of shame.

Men were cruel to him, but he was gentle and quiet; as a lamb taken to its death, and as a sheep before those who take her wool makes no sound, so he said not a word.

Who will not get a hundred times as much now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and land--though with great troubles; and, in the world to come, eternal life.

But before all this, they will take you and be very cruel to you, giving you up to the Synagogues and to prisons, taking you before kings and rulers, because of my name.

Keep in mind the words I said to you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they were cruel to me, they will be cruel to you; if they kept my words, they will keep yours.

O Lord, you have knowledge: keep me in mind and come to my help, and give their right reward to those who are attacking me; take me not away, for you are slow to be angry: see how I have undergone shame because of you from all those who make little of your word;

For this is what the Lord of armies has said: In the way of glory he has sent me to the nations which have taken your goods: for anyone touching you is touching what is most dear to him.

And he went down on the earth, and a voice said to him, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly? And he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are attacking: