21 Bible Verses About Persecution

John 15:18-20

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”

Reflection: Jesus says this to his disciples on the night of the supper in John 13:2. “Remember the word that I said to you” points back to the same evening, when he told them after washing their feet that “a servant is not greater than his master” (13:16). Verse 21 says why they will do these things: “they do not know him who sent me.”

Matthew 10:22

“and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Reflection: The verse belongs to the instructions Jesus gave the twelve when he sent them out (Matthew 10:5). The verses around it name courts, flogging in synagogues and betrayal inside families: “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child” (10:21). The next verse commands flight: “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next.”

John 16:33

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Reflection: These are the last words of Jesus’ farewell discourse before he prays in John 17. Earlier in the chapter he warns that “whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God” (16:2) and says he is telling them in advance so that “you may remember that I told them to you” (16:4). Peace is located “in me” and tribulation “in the world,” and the encouragement rests on something already done: “I have overcome the world.”

2 Timothy 3:12

“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”

Reflection: In the verse before, Paul reminds Timothy of “my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra,” and adds, “from them all the Lord rescued me.” Acts 14:19 records that at Lystra, Jews from Antioch and Iconium won over the crowds and stoned Paul, dragging him out of the city “supposing that he was dead.” Verse 12 widens Paul’s own history into a statement about everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 3:3-4

“that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.”

Reflection: Paul could not return to Thessalonica, “but Satan hindered us” (2:17-18), so he sent Timothy from Athens to strengthen the church “that no one be moved by these afflictions” (3:1-3). He reminds them that he had warned them in person that suffering was coming. Earlier in the letter he says they “suffered the same things from your own countrymen” as the churches in Judea (2:14), and verse 5 names his fear that “the tempter had tempted you.”

Philippians 1:29

“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,”

Reflection: Paul writes from imprisonment, which he says has become known as “for Christ” throughout the imperial guard (1:13). He uses one word, “granted,” for both believing in Christ and suffering for him. Verse 28 tells the Philippians not to be “frightened in anything by your opponents,” and verse 30 says they are in “the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.”

Matthew 5:10-12

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Reflection: The Beatitudes at the start of the Sermon on the Mount end here. Verse 10 promises “the kingdom of heaven,” the same promise as the first Beatitude in verse 3, and verse 11 changes from “those who” to “you,” speaking to the listeners directly. The blessing has its conditions written in: the persecution is “for righteousness’ sake,” and the evil said is said “falsely on my account.” Verse 12 places the persecuted with the prophets who were persecuted before them.

1 Peter 3:14-16

“But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

Reflection: Peter writes to “exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1:1). The defense he asks for is an answer to anyone who asks about “the hope that is in you,” given with gentleness and respect and a good conscience, so that those who revile their good behavior are put to shame. Verse 17 adds that it is “better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”

Acts 5:41

“Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”

Reflection: The high priest and the Sadducees had arrested the apostles “filled with jealousy” (5:17), and before the council Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men” (5:29). The council had them beaten and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus (5:40). They left rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer that dishonor, and verse 42 records that they kept teaching “in the temple and from house to house.”

1 Peter 4:12-13

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

Reflection: The “fiery trial” comes “to test you,” and Peter tells his readers not to treat it as something strange. He ties their present suffering to Christ’s, and their joy to the day “when his glory is revealed.” Verses 15-16 draw a line: Peter forbids suffering “as a murderer or a thief,” but “if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”

Matthew 5:44

“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”

Reflection: Jesus sets this against a saying his hearers had heard: “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy” (5:43). He gives the reason in verse 45, “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven,” who sends sun and rain on the evil and the good alike. Luke 6:27-28 records the same command with “do good to those who hate you” and “pray for those who abuse you.”

Romans 12:14

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.”

Reflection: The command comes in a run of instructions to the church in Rome, directly after “seek to show hospitality” (12:13). In Greek, “seek to show” and “persecute” are the same verb, dioko, to pursue. The chapter goes on to forbid revenge, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God” (12:19), and ends, “overcome evil with good” (12:21).

1 Corinthians 4:12-13

“and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat.”

Reflection: Paul contrasts the apostles with the Corinthians: “We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute” (4:10). Each hostile act in these verses is met with a response: reviling with blessing, persecution with endurance, slander with entreaty. Verse 9 describes the apostles as “like men sentenced to death,” a spectacle “to the world, to angels, and to men.”

1 Peter 2:20-23

“For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

Reflection: Peter is addressing household servants under masters who may be “unjust” (2:18), and he separates suffering for wrongdoing from suffering for doing good. The example he gives in Christ covers the response as well as the suffering: no reviling in return, no threats, and trust in “him who judges justly.” Verse 24 goes on to the purpose of that suffering: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.”

Hebrews 12:1-3

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”

Reflection: The “cloud of witnesses” are the people of faith in Hebrews 11, which near its end names those who were “stoned,” “sawn in two,” and “destitute, afflicted, mistreated” (11:37). Verse 3 points to Jesus, “who endured from sinners such hostility against himself,” and verse 4 tells the readers they have not yet resisted “to the point of shedding your blood.” Earlier the letter recalls their public reproach and “the plundering of your property” (10:32-34).

1 Peter 4:19

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

Reflection: The verse closes Peter’s paragraph on the fiery trial, and it joins two actions: those who suffer “according to God’s will” entrust their souls to God and keep “doing good.” Peter used similar words of Christ in 2:23, who “continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

Matthew 10:28

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Reflection: This comes in the same commission as Matthew 10:22, after the command “So have no fear of them” (10:26). Jesus tells the twelve to fear God, who has power over soul and body, more than those who can kill only the body. The next verses add that not one sparrow falls “apart from your Father” and that “even the hairs of your head are all numbered,” ending, “Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (10:31).

Romans 8:35-37

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Reflection: Paul’s list includes persecution and the sword, and the line he quotes is Psalm 44:22. In that psalm the people say their suffering has come “though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant” (Psalm 44:17). Paul’s answer is that “in all these things we are more than conquerors,” and verses 38-39 extend the list to death, rulers and “anything else in all creation.”

2 Corinthians 4:8-10

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies.”

Reflection: Each pair names a hardship and the point it does not reach: afflicted and not crushed, persecuted and not forsaken. The verse before gives the reason Paul offers: “we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (4:7). Verse 11 calls the same experience being “given over to death for Jesus’ sake.”

Acts 9:4-5

“And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’”

Reflection: Saul was on his way to Damascus with letters from the high priest, to bring back in bonds “any belonging to the Way, men or women” (9:1-2). The voice asks why Saul is persecuting “me,” then names himself as “Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Paul tells the story again before a crowd in Jerusalem in Acts 22:4-8, with the same question.

Hebrews 13:3

“Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”

Reflection: The instruction comes among the letter’s closing commands, after “Let brotherly love continue” (13:1). Prisoners are to be remembered “as though in prison with them,” and the mistreated “since you also are in the body.” The letter has already praised its readers for having “compassion on those in prison” (10:34).