Persecution of the Righteous
Source: Nav
Genesis 49:23
The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.
Job 1:9
Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
Job 2:4, 5
“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life. / But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
Job 12:4, 5
I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock. / The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
Psalm 11:2
For behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrow on the string to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
Psalm 37:32
Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,
Psalm 38:20
Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good.
Psalm 42:3, 10
My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?” / Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
Psalm 44:15–18, 22
All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face, / at the voice of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy, bent on revenge. / All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You or betrayed Your covenant.
Psalm 56:5
All day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are on my demise.
Psalm 69:10, 12
I wept and fasted, but it brought me reproach. / Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.
Psalm 74:7, 8
They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name. / They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely.” They burned down every place where God met us in the land.
Psalm 94:5
They crush Your people, O LORD; they oppress Your heritage.
Psalm 119:51, 61, 69, 78, 85–87, 95, 110, 157, 161
The arrogant utterly deride me, but I do not turn from Your law. / Though the ropes of the wicked bind me, I do not forget Your law. / Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep Your precepts with all my heart.
Proverbs 29:10, 27
Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man, but the upright care for his life. / An unjust man is detestable to the righteous, and one whose way is upright is detestable to the wicked.
Isaiah 26:20
Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.
Isaiah 29:20, 21
For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down— / those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.
Isaiah 51:12, 13
“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass? / But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?
Isaiah 59:15
Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil becomes prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
Jeremiah 2:30
“I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.”
Jeremiah 11:19
For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”
Jeremiah 15:10
Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.
Jeremiah 18:18
Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”
Jeremiah 20:7, 8
You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. / For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long.
Jeremiah 26:11–14
Then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man is worthy of death, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears!” / But Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people, “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. / So now, correct your ways and deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, so that He might relent of the disaster He has pronounced against you.
Jeremiah 50:7
All who found them devoured them, and their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’
Amos 5:10
There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
Habakkuk 1:13
Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
Matthew 5:10–12, 44
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. / Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. / Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.
Matthew 10:16–18, 21–23, 28
Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. / But beware of men; for they will hand you over to their councils and flog you in their synagogues. / On My account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
Matthew 20:22, 23
“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” the brothers answered. / “You will indeed drink My cup,” Jesus said. “But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom My Father has prepared them.”
Matthew 23:34, 35
Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town. / And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
Matthew 24:8–10
All these are the beginning of birth pains. / Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. / At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,
Mark 9:42
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.
Mark 13:9
So be on your guard. You will be delivered over to the councils and beaten in the synagogues. On My account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
Luke 6:22, 23, 26
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. / Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way. / Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.
Luke 17:33
Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.
Luke 21:12–19
But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. On account of My name they will deliver you to the synagogues and prisons, and they will bring you before kings and governors. / This will be your opportunity to serve as witnesses. / So make up your mind not to worry beforehand how to defend yourselves.
John 12:42
Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue.
John 15:18, 19
If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. / If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
John 16:1, 2
“I have told you these things so that you will not fall away. / They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.
John 17:14
I have given them Your word and the world has hated them; for they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Acts 4:16–20
“What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it. / But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.” / Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Acts 5:29, 40–42
But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men. / At this, they yielded to Gamaliel. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them. / Every day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
Acts 7:52
Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—
Acts 8:4
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
Acts 28:22
But we consider your views worth hearing, because we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”
Romans 8:17, 35–37
And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him. / Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? / No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
1 Corinthians 4:9–13
For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death. We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as well as to men. / We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored. / To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
1 Corinthians 13:3
If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.
2 Corinthians 4:8–12
We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; / persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. / We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
2 Corinthians 6:4, 5, 8–10
Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities; / in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger; / through glory and dishonor, slander and praise; viewed as imposters, yet genuine;
2 Corinthians 11:23–27
Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death. / Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. / Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
2 Corinthians 12:10
That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Galatians 4:29
At that time, however, the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit. It is the same now.
Galatians 6:12, 17
Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. They only do this to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ. / From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
Philippians 1:12–14, 28, 29
Now I want you to know, brothers, that my circumstances have actually served to advance the gospel. / As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. / And most of the brothers, confident in the Lord by my chains, now dare more greatly to speak the word without fear.
Colossians 1:24
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.
1 Thessalonians 1:6
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering.
1 Thessalonians 2:2, 14, 15
As you are aware, we had already endured suffering and shameful treatment in Philippi. But in the face of strong opposition, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God. / For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the very things they suffered from the Jews, / who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
2 Thessalonians 1:4
That is why we boast among God’s churches about your perseverance and faith in the face of all the persecution and affliction you are enduring.
2 Timothy 1:8, 12
So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. / For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.
2 Timothy 2:9–12
for which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained! / For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. / This is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
2 Timothy 3:2, 3, 12
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, / unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, / Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
2 Timothy 4:16, 17
At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them. / But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion.
Hebrews 10:32–34
Remember the early days that you were in the light. In those days, you endured a great conflict in the face of suffering. / Sometimes you were publicly exposed to ridicule and persecution; at other times you were partners with those who were so treated. / You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you yourselves had a better and permanent possession.
Hebrews 11:25–27, 33–38
He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin. / He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward. / By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.
Hebrews 12:3, 4
Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. / In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Hebrews 13:13
Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore.
James 2:6
But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
James 5:6, 10
You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you. / Brothers, as an example of patience in affliction, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
1 Peter 3:14, 16, 17
But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.” / keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ. / For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
1 Peter 4:3, 4, 12–14, 16, 19
For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. / Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you. / Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
1 John 3:1, 13
Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. / So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.
Revelation 2:3, 10, 13
Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name. / Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. / I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits. Yet you have held fast to My name and have not denied your faith in Me, even in the day when My faithful witness Antipas was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
Revelation 6:9–11
And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld. / And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?” / Then each of them was given a white robe and told to rest a little while longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers, were killed, just as they had been killed.
Revelation 7:13–17
Then one of the elders addressed me: “These in white robes,” he asked, “who are they, and where have they come from?” / “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. / For this reason, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.
Revelation 12:11
They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.
Revelation 17:6
I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.
Revelation 20:4
Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.