Blessed is the person who keeps going when times are difficult. After they’ve made it through these times, they’ll receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to give to those who love him.
Our troubles are small and they last only for a short time, but they’re earning a glory for us that will last forever. That glory outweighs all our troubles.
Blessed are you when people hate you, when they have nothing to do with you, when they say bad things about you, and when they treat your name as evil because of the Son of Man.
So don’t be afraid in any way of those who oppose you. Your fearlessness will show them that they’re going to be destroyed but you’re going to be saved.
“But before all this, people will arrest you and systematically oppress you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison. You will be brought to kings and governors. All this will happen to you because of my name,
Remember what I told you: ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If people have hated me and tried to hurt me, they will do the same to you. If they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours too.
Don’t be afraid of what you’re going to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you’ll be mistreated for ten days. Be faithful, even if you have to die, and I’ll give you life as your victory crown.
You know that I’ve been treated badly and suffered greatly. You know what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra—how badly I was treated there. But the Lord saved me from all my troubles.
“Then the King will speak to those on his right and say, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take what is yours. Receive the kingdom that has been prepared for you since the world was created.
will receive 100 times as much in this world. They will have other homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields—and they’ll also be systematically oppressed by others. But in the world to come they’ll live forever.
If people attack you in one place, escape to another. Truly I tell you, you won’t finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Don’t be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because the things he did were wrong, and the things his brother did were right.
Saul had agreed that Stephen should die. On that day an attack began against the church in Jerusalem. The believers, except for the apostles, were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Gamaliel convinced the leaders. They called in the apostles and had them whipped. They ordered them not to speak in Jesus’ name, and then they let them go.
When Jesus saw this, he was furious. He told his disciples, “Let the little children come to me, and don’t keep them away, because the kingdom of God belongs to people like them.
As you know, we consider people blessed who don’t give up. You’ve heard that Job was patient, and you’ve seen what the Lord finally did for him. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.