35O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!
3But let the righteous be glad; Let them rejoice before God; Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.
Glory be to God forever. Amen.
16"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
17But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
18You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
19But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak;
20for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
21"Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.
22And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
23When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Glory be to God forever. Amen.
11Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart.
12Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
Glory be to God forever. Amen.
9"But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.
10And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.
11But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
12Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.
13And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Glory be to God forever. Amen.
3For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
4You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
5And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives."
7If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
8But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
9Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
10For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
11Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
12Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,
13and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
14Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
Glory be to God forever. Amen.
12Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;
13but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
14If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
15But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters.
16Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
17For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
18Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?"
19Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
Glory be to God forever. Amen.
44"Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen,
45which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David,
46who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob.
47But Solomon built Him a house.
48"However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
49"Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest?
50Has My hand not made all these things?'
51"You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
52Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,
53who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it."
54When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
55But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
56and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"
57Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;
58and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
60Then 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.
1Now 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.
Glory be to God forever. Amen.
19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
20He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.
Glory be to God forever. Amen.
53And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things,
54lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.
1In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
2For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.
3Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.
4"And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
5But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!
6"Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God.
7But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
8"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.
9But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
10"And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.
11"Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.
12For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."
Glory be to God forever. Amen.