διώξετε [12 verses](verb 2nd pl fut ind act) "Persecuted" is dioko, which means "to cause to run," "to set into motion," "to pursue," "to chase [away]," to follow," "to seek after," "to be hurried (passive)," "to urge on," "to prosecute [legally]," " or "to drive." -- The word translated as "persecute" means "to chase" in both the sense of "chase away" and "seek after." It also means "to prosecute' in a legal sense. Jesus usually uses it in the negative sense of "hounding" someone but in one verse, Luke 17:23, Jesus uses it in the positive sense of following a leader.  In English, we describe someone as being chased and harassed as "being hounded." That idea seems to come closest to capturing Jesus's use of this word.