On My account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.
- KJV And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
- NKJV You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
- NASB and you will even be brought before governors and kings on My account, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
- NLT You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believers will be dragged before rulers, turning their trials into opportunities to witness. Even opposition serves the spread of the gospel to the nations.
Overview
Jesus foresees His followers testifying before governors and kings, with the persecution itself becoming a platform for the gospel before Jews and Gentiles alike. Paul before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa illustrates this (Acts 24-26). What enemies intend for harm God turns to the advance of His kingdom among all peoples.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Matt 8:4Then Jesus instructed him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, as a testimony to them.”
- Mark 13:9So be on your guard. You will be delivered over to the councils and beaten in the synagogues. On My account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
- Acts 5:25–27Then someone came in and announced, “Look, the men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people!”
- Acts 24:1–26Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, who presented to the governor their case against Paul.
- Ps 2:1–6Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- Acts 23:33–34When the horsemen arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and presented Paul to him.
- 2 Tim 1:8So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
- Rev 1:9I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus.
- Rev 11:7When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will wage war with them, and will overpower and kill them.
- Rev 6:9And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld.
- Acts 12:1–4About that time, King Herod reached out to harm some who belonged to the church.
- 2 Tim 4:16–17At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 10:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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