Matthew 5:12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
12 [a]Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.(A) Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The Similes of Salt and Light.[b]
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- 5:12 The prophets who were before you: the disciples of Jesus stand in the line of the persecuted prophets of Israel. Some would see the expression as indicating also that Matthew considered all Christian disciples as prophets.
- 5:13–16 By their deeds the disciples are to influence the world for good. They can no more escape notice than a city set on a mountain. If they fail in good works, they are as useless as flavorless salt or as a lamp whose light is concealed.
Genesis 4:8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.”[a] When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.(A)
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- 4:8 Let us go out in the field: to avoid detection. The verse presumes a sizeable population which Genesis does not otherwise explain.
2 Chronicles 24:20-22
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
20 (A)Then the spirit of God clothed Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest. He took his stand above the people and said to them: “Thus says God, Why are you transgressing the Lord’s commands, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.” 21 But they conspired against him, and at the king’s command they stoned him in the court of the house of the Lord. 22 Thus King Joash was unmindful of the devotion shown him by Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, and killed the son. As he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see and avenge.”
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Zechariah 1:1
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 1
Call for Obedience. 1 In the second year of Darius,[a] in the eighth month, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo:
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- 1:1 Darius: Darius I, emperor of Persia from 522 to 486 B.C. The second year…eighth month: October/November 520 B.C., i.e., prior to the latest date in Haggai (Dec. 18, 520 B.C., Hg 2:10). Unlike other prophets, Haggai and Zechariah 1–8 contain specific chronological information, probably because they were sensitive to the imminent end of the expected seventy years of exile. See note on Zec 1:12.
Luke 11:49-51
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
49 (A)Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles;[a] some of them they will kill and persecute’ 50 in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah[b] who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!(B)
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- 11:49 I will send to them prophets and apostles: Jesus connects the mission of the church (apostles) with the mission of the Old Testament prophets who often suffered the rebuke of their contemporaries.
- 11:51 From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah: the murder of Abel is the first murder recounted in the Old Testament (Gn 4:8). The Zechariah mentioned here may be the Zechariah whose murder is recounted in 2 Chr 24:20–22, the last murder presented in the Hebrew canon of the Old Testament.
Revelation 18:24
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
24 In her was found the blood of prophets and holy ones
and all who have been slain on the earth.”(A)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.