¹⁶ “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.^(A) Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.^(B)

¹⁸ On my account you will be brought before governors and kings^(A) as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.

¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends,^(A) and they will put some of you to death.

²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’^[a](A) If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.^(B) If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

² They will put you out of the synagogue;^(A) in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.^(B)