And Jesus, answering them, began to say: "Take heed lest anyone deceive you.

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

And you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the nations.

Therefore, behold, I send you prophets, wise [men], and scribes: some of them you will kill and you will crucify, and [some] of them you will flog in your synagogues and you will persecute from city to city,

Assuredly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.

Then they will hand you over to tribulation and they will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations, on account of My name.

And then many will fall away, and they will betray one another, and they will hate one another.

You will be betrayed even by parents and relatives, friends and brothers; and they will put [some] of you to death.

But not a hair of your head shall by any means perish.

Remember the word which I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

They will excommunicate you; but a time is coming when everyone who kills you will think that he is offering God a service.

Now while they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them,

And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

Now it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together at Jerusalem,

And they brought them forward and began to inquire, "By what power or by what name have you done this?"

If we today are being judged for a good work to a weak man, by what means he has been made well,

This is the 'stone which was rejected by you, the builders, which became the chief cornerstone.'

Now when they observed the boldness of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

And they commanded them to go away outside the council, and began to confer among themselves,

But lest it be spread further among the people, let us threaten them with a threat, to speak no longer in this name."

But Peter and John answered them and said, "Whether it is right before God to hear you rather than God, you judge.

So having threatened them further, they released them, finding no way of punishing them, on account of the people, because they all were glorifying God over that which had occurred.

Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy,

But an angel of the Lord during the night opened the doors of the prison, and leading them out, and said,

And when they heard that, they entered the temple about daybreak and were teaching. Now when the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council, even all the elders of the sons of Israel, and sent to the prison for them to be brought.

saying, "Indeed we found the prison shut in all security, and the guards standing before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one [inside]!"

So one came and reported to them, [saying], "Behold, the men whom you put in jail are standing in the temple and teaching the people!"

And they brought them, and set them before the council. And the high priest asked them,

But Peter and the apostles answered, and said: "We must obey God rather than men.

Him God has exalted to His right hand as Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

But when they heard this, they were infuriated and were resolving to kill them.

And he said to them: "Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves to these men, as to what you are about to do.

After this arose Judas the Galilean, in the days of the census, and caused considerable number of people after him to revolt. That one also perished, and as many as were persuaded by him were dispersed.

but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it--lest you even be found to fight against God."

Then they secretly instigated men to be saying, "We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God."

And they put forward false witnesses saying, "This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against the holy place and the law;

And looking intently at him, all those who sat in the council saw his face like [the] face of an angel.

Now hearing these things they were infuriated in their hearts, and were gnashing their teeth against him.

and he said, "Behold! I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

and casting him outside the city, they stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes beside the feet of a young man named Saul.

Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And having said this, he fell asleep."

Now Saul was agreeing with them in his murder. And in that day there arose a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem; and they all were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

But Saul was doing injury to the church, going in from house to house, and dragging away both men and women, and committing them to prison.

Then Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

and requested from him letters [of authority] to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he should find any who were of the Way, both men or women, he might bring them, having been bound, to Jerusalem.

But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how many wicked things he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem;

and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who are calling on Your name."

For I will show him all the things that he must suffer for My name's sake."

Now at that time Herod the king put [forth] his hands to harm some from the church.

And seeing that it was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded further to arrest Peter also (and then were the Days of Unleavened Bread),

And bringing them to the magistrates they said, "These men, being Jews, are agitating our city;

And the crowd rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore their clothes and ordered [men] to beat [them] with rods.

who, having received such a command, cast them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

And coming to us and taking Paul's belt, and binding his feet and hands, he said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, ' The man whose belt this is, the Jews will bind in this way in Jerusalem, and they will deliver [him] into the hands of the Gentiles.'"

And seeking to kill him, a report went up to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem had been stirred up,

And the commander, approaching, took hold of him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; and he was inquiring who he might be and what he had done.

But when he arrived at the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd.

Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, "Is it permitted from me to speak to you?" And he said, "Do you know Greek?

But Paul said, "I am a Jew from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city; and I request of you, permit me to speak to the people."

"And I said, 'Lord, they know that in every synagogue I was imprisoning and beating those believing on You.

And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing by consenting to his murder, and guarding the clothes of those murdering him.'

Then Paul, looking intently at the council, said, "Men, brothers, I have lived with all good conscience toward God until this day."

But the high priest Ananias commanded those standing by him to strike his mouth.

Now after five days Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain attorney named Tertullus, who made known to the governor the charges against Paul.

both in everything and everywhere we accept [it], most excellent Felix, with all thanksgiving.

For [we] have found this man [to] be a plague, and [one] causing discord among all the Jews throughout the world, and a leader of the Nazarenes sect,

[(OMITTED TEXT)]

And the Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.

Now when Festus had set foot in the province, after three days he went up to Jerusalem from Ceasarea.

asking for favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem--while planning an ambush to kill him along the way.

"Therefore," he said, "the prominent men among you, let them go with me and accuse this man, if there is anything in this man."

When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious accusations against Paul, which they were not able to prove,

But Festus, desiring to grant a favor to the Jews, answered Paul and said, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?"

For if I am doing wrong, and have done anything worthy of death, I am not trying to escape a death sentence; but if there is nothing in these things of which these [people] are accusing me, no one is able to deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar."

And after some days King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea and greeted Festus.

about whom the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, when I was in Jerusalem, asking for punishment against him.

"Therefore when they had assembled here, having made no delay, on the next day I took my seat at the judicial bench, and I commanded the man to be brought [in];

but had some questions against him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be living.

But when Paul appealed that he be kept for the decision of His Majesty the Emperor, I commanded him to be kept until I may send him to Caesar."

Therefore on the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with all pomp, and had entered into the auditorium together with the commanders and the prominent men of the city, and when Festus had commanded, Paul was brought.

But when I came to understand him to have done nothing worthy of death, and also he had appealed to His Majesty the Emperor, I decided to send him.

For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men appointed to death; for we became a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.

Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are naked, and beaten, and homeless.

being defamed, we encourage; we have become as the sweepings of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I [am] even more: in labors far more, in beatings immeasurably, in imprisonments far more, in deaths often.

Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have spent in the depth [of the sea].

in labor and hardship, in sleepless nights often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness--

For to you it has been granted for the sake of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

[which is] evidence of the righteous judgment of God, so that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, on behalf of which you also suffer;

I, John, your brother and partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Christ Jesus, came to be on the island that is called Patmos on account of the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Fear none of those things which you are about to suffer. Behold indeed, the devil is about to cast [some] of you into prison, so that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

"I know your works, and where you live, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith in the days in which Antipas was My faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan is dwelling.

And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.

Then a long white robe was given to them, and it was said to them that they should rest yet a while, until also their fellow servants and their brothers, who were about to be killed as also they [were], should complete [their course].

and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and bring as an offering concerning your cleansing those things which Moses prescribed, as a testimony to them."

And as many as do not receive you nor hear you, as you leave from there, shake off the dust underneath your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom or for Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"

And you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the nations.

And as many as will not receive you, when you go out from that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."