Matthew 5:12
New International Version
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

New Living Translation
Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

English Standard Version
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Berean Standard Bible
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

Berean Literal Bible
Rejoice and exult, because great is your reward in the heavens; for thus they persecuted the prophets before you.

King James Bible
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

New King James Version
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

New American Standard Bible
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

NASB 1995
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

NASB 1977
“Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Legacy Standard Bible
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Amplified Bible
Be glad and exceedingly joyful, for your reward in heaven is great [absolutely inexhaustible]; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Christian Standard Bible
Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

American Standard Version
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you.

Contemporary English Version
Be happy and excited! You will have a great reward in heaven. People did these same things to the prophets who lived long ago.

English Revised Version
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Rejoice and be glad because you have a great reward in heaven! The prophets who lived before you were persecuted in these ways.

Good News Translation
Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted.

International Standard Version
Rejoice and be extremely glad, because your reward in heaven is great! That's how they persecuted the prophets who came before you."

Majority Standard Bible
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

NET Bible
Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

New Heart English Bible
Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Webster's Bible Translation
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Weymouth New Testament
Be joyful and triumphant, because your reward is great in the Heavens; for so were the Prophets before you persecuted.

World English Bible
Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
rejoice and be glad, because your reward [is] great in the heavens, for thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Berean Literal Bible
Rejoice and exult, because great is your reward in the heavens; for thus they persecuted the prophets before you.

Young's Literal Translation
rejoice ye and be glad, because your reward is great in the heavens, for thus did they persecute the prophets who were before you.

Smith's Literal Translation
Rejoice and be transported with joy; for much your reward in the heavens for so they drove out the prophets which before you.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.

Catholic Public Domain Version
be glad and exult, for your reward in heaven is plentiful. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

New American Bible
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

New Revised Standard Version
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Then be glad and rejoice, for your reward is increased in heaven; for in this very manner they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Then rejoice and triumph, because your reward is great in Heaven, for just so they persecuted The Prophets who were before you.
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
Rejoice, and leap for joy; for great is your reward in heaven: for so did they persecute the prophets who were before you.

Godbey New Testament
Rejoice, and he exceedingly glad: because your reward is great in the heavens: for in this manner they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Haweis New Testament
Rejoice and exult; for plenteous is your reward in the heavens: for just so they persecuted the prophets who went before you.

Mace New Testament
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great will be your reward in heaven: for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Weymouth New Testament
Be joyful and triumphant, because your reward is great in the Heavens; for so were the Prophets before you persecuted.

Worrell New Testament
Rejoice, and exult; because great is your reward in Heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.

Worsley New Testament
rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great will be your reward in heaven: for so they persecuted the prophets, that were before you.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Beatitudes
11Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you. 13You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.…

Cross References
Luke 6:23
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.

James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

1 Peter 4:13-14
But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory. / If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

Hebrews 11:35-38
Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection. / Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. / They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated. ...

Acts 5:41
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.

Romans 8:17-18
And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him. / I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.

Revelation 2:10
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

1 Peter 1:6-8
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials / so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. / Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

Philippians 1:29
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him,

2 Timothy 3:12
Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

1 Thessalonians 2:14-15
For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the very things they suffered from the Jews, / who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,

John 15:18-20
If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. / If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. / Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.

2 Corinthians 12:10
That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Isaiah 51:7-8
Listen to Me, you who know what is right, you people with My law in your hearts: Do not fear the scorn of men; do not be broken by their insults. / For the moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will last forever, My salvation through all generations.”


Treasury of Scripture

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Rejoice.

Luke 6:23
Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Acts 5:41
And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

Acts 16:25
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

for great.

Matthew 6:1,2,4,5,16
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven…

Matthew 10:41,42
He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward…

Matthew 16:27
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

for so.

Matthew 21:34-38
And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it…

Matthew 23:31-37
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets…

1 Kings 18:4,13
For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) …

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Matthew 5
1. Jesus' sermon on the mount:
3. The Beattitudes;
13. the salt of the earth;
14. the light of the world.
17. He came to fulfill the law.
21. What it is to kill;
27. to commit adultery;
33. to swear.
38. He exhorts to forgive wrong,
43. to love our enemies;
48. and to labor after perfection.














Rejoice and be glad
The phrase "Rejoice and be glad" is a call to an emotional and spiritual response that transcends earthly circumstances. The Greek words used here are "χαίρετε" (chairete) and "ἀγαλλιᾶσθε" (agalliasthe). "Chairete" is often translated as "rejoice," and it implies a deep, abiding joy that is not dependent on external conditions. "Agalliasthe" means to be exceedingly glad or to exult, suggesting an exuberant, overflowing joy. In the context of persecution for righteousness' sake, this command is counterintuitive, yet it reflects the profound truth that joy in the Christian life is rooted in the eternal and not the temporal. Historically, this joy has been a hallmark of Christian martyrs and saints who found their ultimate satisfaction in Christ, despite suffering.

because great is your reward in heaven
The phrase "because great is your reward in heaven" provides the reason for the rejoicing. The Greek word for "reward" is "μισθός" (misthos), which refers to wages or recompense. This indicates that God, in His justice and grace, acknowledges and rewards the faithfulness of His people. The use of "great" (μέγας, megas) emphasizes the magnitude and significance of this heavenly reward. The concept of heavenly reward is deeply rooted in Jewish eschatological hope and is a recurring theme in the New Testament, where believers are encouraged to look beyond present sufferings to the eternal glory that awaits them. This promise of a "great" reward serves as a powerful motivation for enduring persecution and living a life of righteousness.

for in the same way they persecuted the prophets
The phrase "for in the same way they persecuted the prophets" connects the experience of Jesus' followers with the historical persecution of the prophets. The Greek word "ἐδίωξαν" (ediōxan) means "persecuted" and conveys the idea of being pursued or harassed. This reference to the prophets places the suffering of believers within the larger narrative of God's redemptive history. The prophets, who were God's messengers, often faced opposition and hostility for speaking truth to power and calling people back to covenant faithfulness. This historical context serves as both a warning and an encouragement: a warning that persecution is a common experience for those who stand for God's truth, and an encouragement that believers are part of a long line of faithful witnesses.

who were before you
The phrase "who were before you" emphasizes continuity and solidarity with the faithful who have gone before. The Greek word "πρὸ" (pro) means "before" in terms of time, indicating that the persecution of God's people is not a new phenomenon but has been a consistent reality throughout history. This connection to the past provides a sense of belonging and purpose, as believers today are part of the same spiritual lineage as the prophets and saints of old. It also serves as a reminder of the enduring nature of God's kingdom and the ultimate triumph of His purposes. The historical and scriptural context of this phrase reassures believers that they are not alone in their struggles and that their faithfulness is part of a larger, divine narrative.

(12) Rejoice, and be exceeding glad.--The second word implies a glorious and exulting joy. The same combination is found, possibly as an actual echo of its use here, in 1Peter 1:8; 1Peter 4:13; Revelation 19:7.

Your reward.--The teaching of Luke 17:10 shows that even here the reward is not "of debt, but of grace" (Romans 4:4). It may be added that the temper to which the "reward" is promised practically excludes the possibility of such claim as of right. The reward is for those only who suffer "for righteousness, for Christ," not for those who are calculating on a future compensation. . . .

Verse 12. - Rejoice, and be exceeding glad (χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε). Our Lord uses no weaker expressions than those which describe the joy of the saints over the marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7). The first word expresses joy as such, the second its effect in stirring the emotions; this thought St. Luke carries still further in σκιρτήσατε. (For joy felt under persecution, cf. Acts 5:41.) For great. The order of the Greek, ὅτι ὀ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολύς, does not bear out the emphatic position assigned to "great" in the English Versions from Tyndale downwards (except Rheims), including Revised Version. Is your reward. The doctrine of recompense, which has so large a place in Jewish thought (for a not often-sire example, cf. 'Ab.,' 2:19, Taylor) comes also in Christ's teaching. In Matthew 20:1-16 reward is expressly divested of its merely legal side, and exhibited as ultimately dependent on the will of the great Householder. But here it is mentioned without reference to the difficulties involved in the conception. These difficulties centre round the thought of obligation from God to man. But it may be doubted whether these difficulties are not caused by too exclusively regarding the metaphor of contracting, instead of considering the fact indicated by the metaphor. In God's kingdom every action has a corresponding effect, and this effect is the more certain in proportion as the action is in the sphere of morality. The idea of "quantity" hardly enters into the relation of such cause and effect. It is a question of moral correspondence. But such effect may not unfitly be called by the metaphors "hire," "reward," because, on the one hand, it is the result of conditions of moral service, and, on the other, such terms imply a Personal Will at the back of the effect, as well as a will on the part of the human "servant." (For the subject in other connexions, cf. Weiss, 'Bibl. Theol.,' § 32; cf. also ver. 46; Matthew 6:1, 2, 4, 5, 6.) In heaven. Our Lord says, "your reward is great," because the effect of your exercise of moral powers will be received in a sphere where the accidents of the surroundings will entirely correspond to moral influences. The effect of your present faithfulness, etc., will be seen in the reception Of powers of work and usefulness and enjoyment, beside which those possessed on earth will appear small. On earth the opportunities, etc., are but "few things;" hereafter they will be "many things" (Matthew 25:21). For. Not as giving a reason for the assurance of reward (apparently Meyer and Weiss), but for the command, "rejoice," and be exceeding glad, and perhaps also for the predicate "blessed." Rejoice if persecuted, for such persecutions prove you to be the true successors of the prophets, your predecessors in like faithfulness (cf. James 5:10). So. By reproach, e.g. Elijah (1 Kings 18:17), Amos (Amos 7:12, 13); by persecution, e.g. Hanani (2 Chronicles 16:10), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37:15); by saying all manner of evil, e.g. Amos (Amos 7:10), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37:13), Daniel (Daniel 6:13). Which were before you. Added, surely, not as a mere temporal fact, but to indicate spiritual relationship (vide supra).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Rejoice
χαίρετε (chairete)
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 5463: A primary verb; to be 'cheer'ful, i.e. Calmly happy or well-off; impersonally, especially as salutation, be well.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

celebrate,
ἀγαλλιᾶσθε (agalliasthe)
Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 21: To exult, be full of joy. From agan and hallomai; properly, to jump for joy, i.e. Exult.

because
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

great [is]
πολὺς (polys)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 4183: Much, many; often.

your
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

reward
μισθὸς (misthos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3408: (a) pay, wages, salary, (b) reward, recompense, punishment. Apparently a primary word; pay for service, good or bad.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

heaven;
οὐρανοῖς (ouranois)
Noun - Dative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3772: Perhaps from the same as oros; the sky; by extension, heaven; by implication, happiness, power, eternity; specially, the Gospel.

for
γὰρ (gar)
Conjunction
Strong's 1063: For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason.

in the same way
οὕτως (houtōs)
Adverb
Strong's 3779: Thus, so, in this manner. Or (referring to what precedes or follows).

they persecuted
ἐδίωξαν (ediōxan)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 1377: To pursue, hence: I persecute. A prolonged form of a primary verb dio; to pursue; by implication, to persecute.

the
τοὺς (tous)
Article - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

prophets
προφήτας (prophētas)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 4396: From a compound of pro and phemi; a foreteller; by analogy, an inspired speaker; by extension, a poet.

before
πρὸ (pro)
Preposition
Strong's 4253: A primary preposition; 'fore', i.e. In front of, prior to.

you.
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.


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