who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and didn't please God, and are contrary to all men;
and have persecuted us: The fate of the prophets and of the Lord Jesus is shared by the apostles as well. God’s way and God’s people are always objects of hostility and rejection. Persecute means to drive out, suggesting the particular form this persecution took (Acts 17:5-9). Followers of Christ have often been the recipients of the same kind of ill-treatment accorded the founder of their faith.