Persecutions Predicted

¹⁶ “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.^(A)

³ But I fear that, as the serpent^(A) deceived^(B) Eve^(C) by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure^[a] devotion to Christ.^(D)

⁹ So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent,^(A) who is called the devil and Satan,^(B) the one who deceives the whole world.^(C) He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.^(D)

² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan,^[a](A) and bound^(B) him for a thousand years.