¹⁶ But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed^(A) at his prophets until the wrath^(B) of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.^(C)

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,^(A) how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,^(B) and you were not willing.

⁵² Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?^(A) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him^(B)—

¹⁵ who killed the Lord Jesus^(A) and the prophets^(B) and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone

³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms,^(A) administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,^{(B) 34} quenched the fury of the flames,^(C) and escaped the edge of the sword;^(D) whose weakness was turned to strength;^(E) and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.^{(F) 35} Women received back their dead, raised to life again.^(G) There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. ³⁶ Some faced jeers and flogging,^(H) and even chains and imprisonment.^{(I) 37} They were put to death by stoning;^[a](J) they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.^(K) They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,^(L) destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves^(M) and in holes in the ground.

³⁹ These were all commended^(N) for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,^{(O) 40} since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us^(P) would they be made perfect.^(Q)

¹⁰ Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets^(A) who spoke in the name of the Lord.