“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

we are persecuted, but not abandoned; ¹  we are knocked down, ²  but not destroyed,

Now in fact all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless.

Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

“Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations ¹  because of my name. ² 

I ¹  persecuted this Way ²  even to the point of death, ³  tying up ⁴  both men and women and putting ⁵  them in prison,

We do hard work, toiling with our own hands. When we are verbally abused, we respond with a blessing, when persecuted, we endure,

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

They were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news ¹  of the faith he once tried to destroy.”

But just as at that time the one born by natural descent ¹  persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, ²  so it is now.

Now, brothers and sisters, ¹  if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? ²  In that case the offense of the cross ³  has been removed. ⁴ 

who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets ¹  and persecuted us severely. ²  They are displeasing to God and are opposed to all people,

Remember what ¹  I told you, ‘A slave ²  is not greater than his master.’ ³  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed ⁴  my word, they will obey ⁵  yours too.

Those who want to make a good showing in external matters ¹  are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so ²  only to avoid being persecuted ³  for the cross of Christ.