And Jesus, answering them, began to say: Take heed that no one leads you astray.

But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.

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

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

Truly, I say to you, All these things will come upon this generation.

Then they will deliver you up to affliction and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

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

But not a hair of your head shall at all perish.

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. If they kept My Word, they will keep yours also.

They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.

Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the temple commander, and the Sadducees came near them,

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

And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes,

And standing them in the midst, they asked, By what sort of power or by what sort of name have you done this?

If we this day are examined for a good deed done to an infirm man, by what means he has been made well,

This is the Stone which was counted as nothing by you builders, which has become the Head of the Corner.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they understood that they were with Jesus.

But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,

But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us threaten them with a threat, that from now on they speak to no one in this name.

But Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.

So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.

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 zeal,

But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,

And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

saying, Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.

Then one came and reported to them, saying, Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.

And when they had brought them, they stood them before the council. And the high priest asked them,

But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: We ought to obey God rather than men.

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

When they heard this, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to do away with them.

And he said to them: Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men.

After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed.

but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it; lest you even be found to fight against God.

Then they secretly induced men to say, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.

They also set up false witnesses who said, This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the Law;

And all who sat in the council, gazing at him, saw his face as if it were the face of an angel.

When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

and said, Behold, I see the Heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid aside their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

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

Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder toward the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.

And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind everyone who calls on Your name.

For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name.

Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to oppress some from the church.

And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. (And it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.)

And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city;

Then the multitude rose up against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.

Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

And when he had come to us, he took Paul's waistband, binding his own hands and feet, and said, Thus says the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this waistband, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

Then the commander came near and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done.

And when he reached the stairs, it happened that he was 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, May I speak to you? He replied, Do you speak Greek?

But Paul said, I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I ask you, allow me to speak to the people.

So I said, Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those believing on You.

And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.

Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.

And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.

And after five days Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. These made declarations to the governor against Paul.

we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.

For we have found this man pestilent, a mover of insurrection among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands,

And the Jews also assented, alleging that these things were so.

Now when Festus had come to the province, after three days he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem.

asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem; while they lay in ambush along the road to kill him.

Therefore, he said, let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man, whatever there might be in him.

And when he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around and brought many serious complaints against Paul, which they were not able to prove.

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

For if I have done wrong, or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not refuse to die; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.

And after some days King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to greet Festus.

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

Therefore when they had come together, without any delay, the next day I sat on the judgment seat and 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 alive.

But when Paul appealed to be reserved for the decision of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I could send him to Caesar.

So the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with great pomp, and had entered the auditorium with the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at Festus' command Paul was led out.

But when I found that he had committed nothing deserving of death, and that he himself had appealed to Augustus, I decided to send him.

For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we became spectacles to all creation, both to angels and to men.

To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and wander homeless.

being defamed, we entreat. We have become as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I excel them: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, 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 been in the deep;

in hardship and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness;

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

which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer;

I, John, both your brother and companion in the affliction and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos because of the Word of God and because of the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have affliction ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

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

And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God and because of the testimony which they held.

And a white robe was given to each one of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who were about to be killed as they were, was filled up.

and said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.

And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Truly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

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

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