Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.

as well as the persecutions and sufferings ¹  that happened to me in Antioch, ²  in Iconium, and in Lystra. ³  I endured these persecutions and the Lord delivered me from them all.

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

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,

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

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.

Now because Jesus was doing these things ¹  on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders ²  began persecuting ³  him.

So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord replied, ¹  ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

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

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 

Then the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hate you and persecute you.

For they harass ¹  the one whom you discipline; ²  they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. ³ 

How long must your servant endure this? ¹  When will you judge those who pursue me?

All your commands are reliable. I am pursued without reason. ¹  Help me!

Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen ¹  went as far as ²  Phoenicia, ³  Cyprus, ⁴  and Antioch, ⁵  speaking the message ⁶  to no one but Jews.

For you have heard of my former way of life ¹  in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it.

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.

If you say, ‘How we will pursue him, since the root of the trouble is found in him!’ ¹ 

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