Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



Now there was a disciple called Ananias in Damascus. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He said, "I am here, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment, and he has seen a man called Ananias enter and lay his hands upon him to bring back his sight." read more.
"But, Lord," Ananias answered, "many people have told me about all the mischief this man has done to thy saints at Jerusalem! And in this city too he has authority from the high priests to put anyone in chains who invokes thy Name!" But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel. I will show him all he has to suffer for the sake of my Name." So Ananias went off and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit." In a moment something like scales fell from his eyes, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized.

Then a certain Ananias, a devout man in the Law, who had a good reputation among all the Jewish inhabitants, came to me and standing beside me said, 'Saul, my brother, regain your sight!' The same moment I regained my sight and looked up at him. Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One, and to hear him speak with his own lips. read more.
For you are to be a witness for him before all men, a witness of what you have seen and heard. And now, why do you wait? Get up and be baptized and wash away your sins, invoking his name.'


PAUL an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and brother Timotheus, to the church of God at Corinth as well as to all the saints throughout the whole of Achaia:


PAUL an apostle ??not appointed by men nor commissioned by any man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead, ??2 with all the brothers who are beside me, to the churches of Galatia;

he dropped to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you?" he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, "and you persecute me. Get up and go into the city. There you will be told what you have to do."

But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel. I will show him all he has to suffer for the sake of my Name."

As they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the holy Spirit said, "Come! set me apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and let them go.



Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and brother Timotheus,


Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God in the service of the Life he has promised in Christ Jesus ??2 to his beloved son Timotheus: grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.




As he neared Damascus in the course of his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed round him; he dropped to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you?" he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, "and you persecute me. read more.
Get up and go into the city. There you will be told what you have to do." His fellow-travellers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but they could not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were open he could see nothing; so they took his hand and led him to Damascus. For three days he remained sightless, he neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple called Ananias in Damascus. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He said, "I am here, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment, and he has seen a man called Ananias enter and lay his hands upon him to bring back his sight." "But, Lord," Ananias answered, "many people have told me about all the mischief this man has done to thy saints at Jerusalem! And in this city too he has authority from the high priests to put anyone in chains who invokes thy Name!" But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel. I will show him all he has to suffer for the sake of my Name." So Ananias went off and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit." In a moment something like scales fell from his eyes, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized.




Meanwhile Saul still breathed threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus empowering him to put any man or woman in chains whom he could find belonging to the Way, and bring them to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus in the course of his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed round him; read more.
he dropped to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you?" he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, "and you persecute me. Get up and go into the city. There you will be told what you have to do." His fellow-travellers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but they could not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were open he could see nothing; so they took his hand and led him to Damascus. For three days he remained sightless, he neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple called Ananias in Damascus. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He said, "I am here, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment, and he has seen a man called Ananias enter and lay his hands upon him to bring back his sight." "But, Lord," Ananias answered, "many people have told me about all the mischief this man has done to thy saints at Jerusalem! And in this city too he has authority from the high priests to put anyone in chains who invokes thy Name!" But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel. I will show him all he has to suffer for the sake of my Name." So Ananias went off and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit." In a moment something like scales fell from his eyes, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized.


Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the work I have accomplished in the Lord?

and finally he was seen by myself, by this so-called 'abortion' of an apostle.

Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One, and to hear him speak with his own lips.

Now get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you in order to appoint you to my service as a witness to what you have seen and to the visions you shall have of me.

On the following night the Lord stood by Paul and said, "Courage! As you have testified to me at Jerusalem, so you must testify at Rome."

As he neared Damascus in the course of his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed round him; he dropped to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you?" he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, "and you persecute me. read more.
Get up and go into the city. There you will be told what you have to do." His fellow-travellers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but they could not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were open he could see nothing; so they took his hand and led him to Damascus. For three days he remained sightless, he neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple called Ananias in Damascus. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He said, "I am here, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment, and he has seen a man called Ananias enter and lay his hands upon him to bring back his sight." "But, Lord," Ananias answered, "many people have told me about all the mischief this man has done to thy saints at Jerusalem! And in this city too he has authority from the high priests to put anyone in chains who invokes thy Name!" But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel. I will show him all he has to suffer for the sake of my Name." So Ananias went off and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit."


and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste, leave Jerusalem quickly, for they will not accept your evidence about me.'




Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the work I have accomplished in the Lord?

and finally he was seen by myself, by this so-called 'abortion' of an apostle.

I render thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has made me able for this; he considered me trustworthy and appointed me to the ministry, though I had formerly been a blasphemer and a persecutor and a wanton aggressor. I obtained mercy because in my unbelief I had acted out of ignorance;

You know the story of my past career in Judaism; you know how furiously I persecuted the church of God and harried it,

As he neared Damascus in the course of his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed round him; he dropped to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you?" he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, "and you persecute me. read more.
Get up and go into the city. There you will be told what you have to do." His fellow-travellers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but they could not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were open he could see nothing; so they took his hand and led him to Damascus. For three days he remained sightless, he neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple called Ananias in Damascus. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He said, "I am here, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment, and he has seen a man called Ananias enter and lay his hands upon him to bring back his sight." "But, Lord," Ananias answered, "many people have told me about all the mischief this man has done to thy saints at Jerusalem! And in this city too he has authority from the high priests to put anyone in chains who invokes thy Name!" But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel. I will show him all he has to suffer for the sake of my Name." So Ananias went off and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit." In a moment something like scales fell from his eyes, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized. Then he took some food and felt strong again. For several days he stayed at Damascus with the disciples. He lost no time in preaching throughout the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God ??21 to the amazement of all his hearers, who said, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem harried those who invoke this Name, the man who came here for the express purpose of carrying them all in chains to the high priests?" Saul became more and more vigorous. He put the Jewish residents in Damascus to confusion by his proof that Jesus was the Christ;

I persecuted this Way of religion to the death, chaining and imprisoning both men and women, as the high priest and all the council of elders can testify. It was from them that I got letters to the brotherhood at Damascus, and then journeyed thither to bind those who had gathered there and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. Now as I neared Damascus on my journey, suddenly about noon a brilliant light from heaven flashed round me. read more.
I dropped to the earth and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' 'Who are you?' I asked. He said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, and you are persecuting me.' (My companions saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of him who talked to me.) I said, 'What am I to do?' And the Lord said to me, 'Get up and make your way into Damascus; there?you shall be told about all you are destined to do.' As I could not see owing to the dazzling glare of that light,. my companions took my hand and so I reached Damascus. Then a certain Ananias, a devout man in the Law, who had a good reputation among all the Jewish inhabitants, came to me and standing beside me said, 'Saul, my brother, regain your sight!' The same moment I regained my sight and looked up at him. Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One, and to hear him speak with his own lips. For you are to be a witness for him before all men, a witness of what you have seen and heard. And now, why do you wait? Get up and be baptized and wash away your sins, invoking his name.' When I returned to Jerusalem, it happened that while I was praying in the temple I fell into a trance and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste, leave Jerusalem quickly, for they will not accept your evidence about me.' 'But, Lord,' I said, 'they surely know it was I who imprisoned and flogged those who believed in you throughout the synagogues,

I once believed it my duty indeed actively to oppose the name of Jesus the Nazarene. I did so in Jerusalem. I shut up many of the saints in prison, armed with authority from the high priests; when they were put to death, I voted against them; there was not a synagogue where I did not often punish them and force them to blaspheme; and in my frantic fury I persecuted them even to foreign towns. read more.
I was travelling to Damascus on this business, with authority and a commission from the high priests, when at mid-day on the road, O king, I saw a light from heaven, more dazzling than the sun, flash round me and my fellow-travellers. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? You hurt yourself by kicking at the goad.' 'Who are you?' I asked. And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me.


As he neared Damascus in the course of his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed round him; he dropped to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you?" he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, "and you persecute me. read more.
Get up and go into the city. There you will be told what you have to do." His fellow-travellers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but they could not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were open he could see nothing; so they took his hand and led him to Damascus. For three days he remained sightless, he neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple called Ananias in Damascus. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He said, "I am here, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment, and he has seen a man called Ananias enter and lay his hands upon him to bring back his sight." "But, Lord," Ananias answered, "many people have told me about all the mischief this man has done to thy saints at Jerusalem! And in this city too he has authority from the high priests to put anyone in chains who invokes thy Name!" But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel. I will show him all he has to suffer for the sake of my Name." So Ananias went off and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit." In a moment something like scales fell from his eyes, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized.




You are sharing what Christ suffered; so rejoice in it, that you may also rejoice and exult when his glory is revealed. If you are denounced for the sake of Christ, you are blessed; for then the Spirit of glory and power, the Spirit of God himself, is resting on you.







and if children, heirs as well, heirs of God, heirs along with Christ ??for we share his sufferings in order to share his glory. Present suffering, I hold, is a mere nothing compared to the glory that we are to have revealed. Even the creation waits with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed. read more.
For creation was not rendered futile by its own choice, but by the will of Him who thus made it subject, the hope being that creation as well as man would one day be freed from its thraldom to decay and gain the glorious freedom of the children of God. To this day, we know, the entire creation sighs and throbs with pain; and not only so, but even we ourselves, who have the Spirit as a foretaste of the future, even we sigh to ourselves as we wait for the redemption of the body that means our full sonship.

we work hard for our living; when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we put up with it; when defamed, we try to conciliate. To this hour we are treated as the scum of the earth, the very refuse of the world!


every day of my life I am being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may come out within my mortal flesh. In me then death is active, in you life. But since our spirit of faith is the same, therefore ??as it is written I believed and so I spoke ??I too believe and so I speak, read more.
sure that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise me too with Jesus and set me at your side in his presence. It is all in your interests, so that the more grace abounds, the more thanksgiving may rise and redound to the glory of God. Hence I never lose heart; though my outward man decays, my inner man is renewed day after day. The slight trouble of the passing hour results in a solid glory past all comparison, for those of us whose eyes are on the unseen, not on the seen; for the seen is transient, the unseen eternal.

And he was ill, nearly dead with illness. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me, to save me from having one sorrow upon another. So I am specially eager to send him, that you may be glad when you see him again, and thus my own anxiety may be lightened. Give him a welcome in the Lord, then, with your hearts full of joy. Value men like that, read more.
for he nearly died in the service of Christ by risking his life to make up for the services you were not here to render me.

So much so, that throughout the churches of God we are proud of you, proud of the stedfastness and faith you display through all the persecutions and the troubles in which you are involved. They are proof positive of God's equity; you are suffering for the realm of God, and he means to make you worthy of it ??6 since God considers it but just to repay with trouble those who trouble you,






Meanwhile Saul still breathed threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus empowering him to put any man or woman in chains whom he could find belonging to the Way, and bring them to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus in the course of his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed round him; read more.
he dropped to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you?" he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, "and you persecute me. Get up and go into the city. There you will be told what you have to do." His fellow-travellers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but they could not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were open he could see nothing; so they took his hand and led him to Damascus. For three days he remained sightless, he neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple called Ananias in Damascus. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He said, "I am here, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment, and he has seen a man called Ananias enter and lay his hands upon him to bring back his sight." "But, Lord," Ananias answered, "many people have told me about all the mischief this man has done to thy saints at Jerusalem! And in this city too he has authority from the high priests to put anyone in chains who invokes thy Name!" But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel. I will show him all he has to suffer for the sake of my Name." So Ananias went off and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit." In a moment something like scales fell from his eyes, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized. Then he took some food and felt strong again. For several days he stayed at Damascus with the disciples. He lost no time in preaching throughout the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God ??21 to the amazement of all his hearers, who said, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem harried those who invoke this Name, the man who came here for the express purpose of carrying them all in chains to the high priests?" Saul became more and more vigorous. He put the Jewish residents in Damascus to confusion by his proof that Jesus was the Christ; and the Jews, after a number of days had elapsed, conspired to make away with him. But their plot came to the ears of Saul, and, although they kept watch on the gates day and night in order to make away with him, his disciples managed one night to let him down over the wall by lowering him in a basket. He got to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, unable to believe he was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, got hold of him and brought him to the apostles. To them he related how he had seen the Lord upon the road, how He had spoken to him, and how he had spoken freely in the name of Jesus at Damascus. He then went in and out among them at Jerusalem, speaking freely in the name of the Lord; he also held conversations and debates with the Hellenists. But when the brothers learned that the Hellenists were attempting to make away with him, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Now, all over Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria, the church enjoyed peace; it was consolidated, inspired by reverence for the Lord and by its invocation of the holy Spirit, and so increased in numbers.