Persecution Will Come
16 1“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be
2wise as serpents and
3innocent as doves.
17
Beware of men, for
4they will deliver you over to courts and flog you
5in their synagogues,
18
6and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake,
7to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.
19
8When
9they deliver you over,
10do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for
11what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.
20
12For it is not you who speak, but
13the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21
14Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death,
22
15and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.
16But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
23
When they
17persecute you in one town,
18flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel
19before the Son of Man comes.
24
20“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
25
It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.
21If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.