Matthew 24:9 // Mark 13:9; Luke 21:12 Persecution of Christians - cf. Acts 4:3; Acts 5:18, 40; Acts 7:59, Acts 12:1-2; Acts 14:19; Acts 16:19-24; Acts 22:36; Acs 24:1; Acts 25:2-3; Tacitus bears testimony to the hatred and bigotry of the age when he speaks of Christians as "a class of men hated on account of their crimes." Annals 15:44. Also Suetonius on Nero (ch. 16); and Pliny (Ep 10:97);