26 Bible Verses about Convincing

So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and got the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you go on balancing between two opinions? if the Lord is God, then give worship to him; but if Baal, give worship to him. And the people said not a word in answer. Then Elijah said to the people, I, even I, am the only living prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.read more.
Now, let them give us two oxen; and let them take one for themselves, and have it cut up, and put it on the wood, but put no fire under it; I will get the other ox ready, and put it on the wood, and put no fire under it. And do you make prayers to your god, and I will make a prayer to the Lord: and it will be clear that the one who gives an answer by fire is God. And all the people in answer said, It is well said. Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Take one ox for yourselves and get it ready first, for there are more of you; and make your prayers to your god, but put no fire under. So they took the ox which was given them, and made it ready, crying out to Baal from morning till the middle of the day, and saying, O Baal, give ear to us. But there was no voice and no answer. And they were jumping up and down before the altar they had made. And in the middle of the day, Elijah made sport of them, saying, Give louder cries, for he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or he may have gone away for some purpose, or he may be on a journey, or by chance he is sleeping and has to be made awake. So they gave loud cries, cutting themselves with knives and swords, as was their way, till the blood came streaming out all over them. And from the middle of the day they went on with their prayers till the time of the offering; but there was no voice, or any answer, or any who gave attention to them. Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me; and all the people came near. And he put up again the altar of the Lord which had been broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Lord had said, Israel will be your name: And with the stones he made an altar to the name of the Lord; and he made a deep drain all round the altar, great enough to take two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order, and, cutting up the ox, put it on the wood. Then he said, Get four vessels full of water and put it on the burned offering and on the wood. And he said, Do it a second time, and they did it a second time; And he said, Do it a third time, and they did it a third time. And the water went all round the altar, till the drain was full. Then at the time of the offering, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be seen this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things by your order. Give me an answer, O Lord, give me an answer, so that this people may see that you are God, and that you have made their hearts come back again. Then the fire of the Lord came down, burning up the offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and drinking up the water in the drain. And when the people saw it, they all went down on their faces, and said, The Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God.

And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, Up! go to Nineveh, that great town, and give it the word which I have given you. So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh as the Lord had said. Now Nineveh was a very great town, three days' journey from end to end.read more.
And Jonah first of all went a day's journey into the town, and crying out said, In forty days destruction will overtake Nineveh. And the people of Nineveh had belief in God; and a time was fixed for going without food, and they put on haircloth, from the greatest to the least. And the word came to the king of Nineveh, and he got up from his seat of authority, and took off his robe, and covering himself with haircloth, took his seat in the dust. And he had it given out in Nineveh, By the order of the king and his great men, no man or beast, herd or flock, is to have a taste of anything; let them have no food or water: And let man and beast be covered with haircloth, and let them make strong prayers to God: and let everyone be turned from his evil way and the violent acts of their hands. Who may say that God will not be turned, changing his purpose and turning away from his burning wrath, so that destruction may not overtake us?

To whom am I to give word, witnessing so that they may take note? see, their ears are stopped, and they are not able to give attention: see, the word of the Lord has been a cause of shame to them, they have no delight in it.

When he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, are we to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And in answer he said, Go up, and it will go well for you; and the Lord will give it into the hands of the king. Then the king said to him, Have I not, again and again, put you on your oath to say nothing to me but what is true in the name of the Lord? Then he said, I saw all Israel wandering on the mountains like sheep without a keeper; and the Lord said, These have no master: let them go back, every man to his house in peace.read more.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say that he would not be a prophet of good but of evil? And he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, with all the army of heaven in their places round him at his right hand and at his left. And the Lord said, How may Ahab be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another. Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick. And the Lord said, How? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so. And now, see, the Lord has put a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has said evil against you. Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of the face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you? And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe. And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son; And say, It is the king's order that this man is to be put in prison and given prison food till I come again in peace. And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me.

When he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, are we to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And he said, Go up, and it will go well for you; and they will be given up into your hands. And the king said to him, Have I not, again and again, put you on your oath to say nothing to me but what is true in the name of the Lord? Then he said, I saw all Israel wandering on the mountains like sheep without a keeper; and the Lord said, These have no master: let them go back, every man to his house in peace.read more.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say that he would not be a prophet of good to me, but of evil? Then he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, and all the army of heaven in their places, at his right hand and at his left. And the Lord said, How may Ahab, king of Israel, be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another. Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick. And the Lord said to him, How? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so. And now, see, the Lord has put a spirit of deceit in the mouth of these prophets of yours; and the Lord has said evil against you. Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of his face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you? And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe. And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son; And say, By the king's order this man is to be put in prison, and given prison food till I come back in peace. And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me.

And I have sent you all my servants the prophets, getting up early and sending them, saying, Come back, now, every man from his evil way, and do better, and go not after other gods to become their servants, and you will go on living in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but your ears have not been open, and you have not given attention to me.

And the children are hard and stiff-hearted; I am sending you to them: and you are to say to them, These are the words of the Lord. And they, if they give ear to you or if they do not give ear (for they are an uncontrolled people), will see that there has been a prophet among them.

Then Amaziah, the priest of Beth-el, sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, Amos has made designs against you among the people of Israel: the land is troubled by his words. For Amos has said, Jeroboam will be put to the sword, and Israel will certainly be taken away as a prisoner out of his land. And Amaziah said to Amos, O seer, go in flight into the land of Judah, and there get your living by working as a prophet:read more.
But be a prophet no longer at Beth-el: for it is the holy place of the king, and the king's house.

But though he had done such a number of signs before them, they still had no belief in him: So that the words of the prophet Isaiah might come true, when he said, Lord, who has any belief in our preaching? and the arm of the Lord, to whom has it been unveiled? For this reason they were unable to have belief, because Isaiah said again,read more.
He has made their eyes blind, and their hearts hard; for fear that they might see with their eyes and get knowledge with their hearts, and be changed, and I might make them well.

Who would have had faith in the word which has come to our ears, and to whom had the arm of the Lord been unveiled?

Make the hearts of this people fat, and let their ears be stopped, and their eyes shut; for fear that they may see with their eyes, and be hearing with their ears, and their heart may become wise, and they may be turned to me and made well.

For this reason I put things into the form of stories; because they see without seeing, and give ear without hearing, and the sense is not clear to them. And for them the words of Isaiah have come true, Though you give ear, you will not get knowledge; and seeing, you will see, but the sense will not be clear to you: For the heart of this people has become fat and their ears are slow in hearing and their eyes are shut; for fear that they might see with their eyes and give hearing with their ears and become wise in their hearts and be turned again to me, so that I might make them well.

And when he was by himself, those who were round him with the twelve put questions to him about the purpose of the stories. And he said to them, To you is given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things are given in the form of stories; So that seeing they may see, and it will not be clear to them; and hearing it, they will not get the sense; for fear that they may be turned again to me and have forgiveness.

And he said, To you is given knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to the others, they are given in stories, so that seeing, they may not see, and though they give hearing, the sense will not be clear to them.

And he said, Go, and say to this people, You will go on hearing, but learning nothing; you will go on seeing, but without getting wiser. Make the hearts of this people fat, and let their ears be stopped, and their eyes shut; for fear that they may see with their eyes, and be hearing with their ears, and their heart may become wise, and they may be turned to me and made well.

Then some of the people of Jerusalem said, Is not this the man whose death is desired? And here he is talking openly and they say nothing to him! Is it possible that the rulers have knowledge that this is truly the Christ? However, it is clear to us where this man comes from: but when the Christ comes no one will have knowledge where he comes from.read more.
Then, when he was teaching in the Temple, Jesus said with a loud voice, You have knowledge of me and you have knowledge of where I come from; and I have not come of myself; but there is One who has sent me; he is true, but you have no knowledge of him. I have knowledge of him because I came from him and he sent me. Then they had a desire to take him: but no man put hands on him because his hour was still to come. And numbers of the people had belief in him, and they said, When the Christ comes will he do more signs than this man has done? This discussion of the people came to the ears of the Pharisees; and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent servants to take him. Then Jesus said, I will be with you a little longer and then I go to him who sent me. You will be looking for me, and you will not see me: and where I am you may not come. So the Jews said among themselves, To what place is he going where we will not see him? will he go to the Jews living among the Greeks and become the teacher of the Greeks? What is this saying of his, You will be looking for me and will not see me, and where I am you may not come? On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus got up and said in a loud voice, If any man is in need of drink let him come to me and I will give it to him. He who has faith in me, out of his body, as the Writings have said, will come rivers of living water. This he said of the Spirit which would be given to those who had faith in him: the Spirit had not been given then, because the glory of Jesus was still to come. When these words came to their ears, some of the people said, This is certainly the prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But others said, Not so; will the Christ come from Galilee? Do not the Writings say that the Christ comes of the seed of David and from Beth-lehem, the little town where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him.

But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Get up, and go to the south, to the road which goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, through the waste land. And he went and there was a man of Ethiopia, a servant of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, and controller of all her property, who had come up to Jerusalem for worship; He was going back, seated in his carriage, and was reading the book of the prophet Isaiah.read more.
And the Spirit said to Philip, Go near, and get on his carriage. And Philip, running up to him, saw that he was reading Isaiah the prophet, and said to him, Is the sense of what you are reading clear to you? And he said, How is that possible when I have no guide? And he made Philip get up by his side. Now the place in the book where he was reading was this: He was taken, like a sheep, to be put to death; and as a lamb is quiet when its wool is being cut, so he made no sound: Being of low degree, his cause was not given a hearing: who has knowledge of his family? for his life is cut off from the earth. And the Ethiopian said to Philip, About whom are these words said by the prophet? about himself, or some other? So Philip, starting from this writing, gave him the good news about Jesus. And while they were going on their way, they came to some water, and the Ethiopian said, See, here is water; why may I not have baptism? [] And he gave orders for the carriage to be stopped, and the two of them went down into the water, and Philip gave him baptism.

For I am certain that not death, or life, or angels, or rulers, or things present, or things to come, or powers, Or things on high, or things under the earth, or anything which is made, will be able to come between us and the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For it is the love of Christ which is moving us; because we are of the opinion that if one was put to death for all, then all have undergone death; And that he underwent death for all, so that the living might no longer be living to themselves, but to him who underwent death for them and came back from the dead.

And for which I undergo these things: but I have no feeling of shame. For I have knowledge of him in whom I have faith, and I am certain that he is able to keep that which I have given into his care till that day.

And every Sabbath he had discussions in the Synagogue, turning Jews and Greeks to the faith.

And Paul, as he generally did, went in to them, and on three Sabbath days had discussions with them from the holy Writings, Saying to them clearly and openly that Christ had to be put to death and come back to life again; and that this Jesus, whom, he said, I am preaching to you, is the Christ. And some of them had faith, and were joined to Paul and Silas; and a number of the God-fearing Greeks, and some of the chief women.

And he went into the Synagogue, and for three months he was preaching there without fear, reasoning and teaching about the kingdom of God.

And Agrippa said to Paul, A little more and you will be making me a Christian. And Paul said, It is my prayer to God that, in little or great measure, not only you, but all those hearing me today might be even as I am, but for these chains.

And when a day had been fixed, they came to his house in great numbers; and he gave them teaching, giving witness to the kingdom of God, and having discussions with them about Jesus, from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning till evening. And some were in agreement with what he said, but some had doubts.

Having in mind, then, the fear of the Lord, we put these things before men, but God sees our hearts; and it is my hope that we may seem right in your eyes.