Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible



"I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel in all the strictness of our ancestral Law, ardent for God as you all are to-day. I persecuted this Way of religion to the death, chaining and imprisoning both men and women,

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.

I once believed it my duty indeed actively to oppose the name of Jesus the Nazarene.

You know the story of my past career in Judaism; you know how furiously I persecuted the church of God and harried it, and how I outstripped many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house.

in point of ardour a persecutor of the church, immaculate by the standard of legal righteousness. Verse ConceptseagernessRestored In Jesus ChristPerfection, HumanZealFulfilling The LawPlea Of InnocenceThe Church UniversalPersecutionzealots


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! read more.
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 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.' read more.
'Who are you?' I asked. And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me. 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. I will rescue you from the People and also from the Gentiles ??to whom I send you, that their eyes may be opened and that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, to get remission of their sins and an inheritance among those who are consecrated by faith in me.'

I tell you this, you Gentiles, that as an apostle to the Gentiles I lay great stress on my office, Verse ConceptsGentiles, In NtMission, Of The ChurchPreaching Gospel To ForeignersGentilesMinistry

You know the story of my past career in Judaism; you know how furiously I persecuted the church of God and harried it, and how I outstripped many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house. But the God who had set me apart from my very birth called me by his grace, read more.
and when he chose to reveal his Son to me, that I might preach him to the Gentiles, instead of consulting with any human being,

For this reason I Paul, I whom Jesus has made a prisoner for the sake of you Gentiles ??2 for surely you have heard how the grace of God which was vouchsafed me in your interests has ordered it, how the divine secret was disclosed to me by a revelation (if you read what I have already written briefly about this, you can understand my insight into that secret of Christ read more.
which was not disclosed to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his sacred apostles and prophets by the Spirit), namely, that in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are co-heirs, companions, and co-partners in the Promise. Such is the gospel which I was called to serve by the endowment of God's grace which was vouchsafed me, by the energy of his power; less than the least of all saints as I am, this grace was vouchsafed me, that I should bring the Gentiles the gospel of the fathomless wealth of Christ

I was circumcised on the eighth day after birth; I belonged to the race of Israel, to the tribe of Benjamin; I was the Hebrew son of Hebrew parents, a Pharisee as regards the Law, Verse ConceptsCircumcision, physicalDay 8ScholarsLess Than A Year OldTaking The Law To HeartJewszealots

"I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel in all the strictness of our ancestral Law, ardent for God as you all are to-day. Verse ConceptsEducation, Examples OfPaul, Life OfSelf ConfidenceLegalismSitting At The FeetSchoolsTaking The Law To HeartEducationSchoolzealots

Then, finding half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisees, Paul shouted to them, "I am a Pharisee, brothers, the son of Pharisees! It is for the hope of the resurrection from the dead that I am on trial!" Verse ConceptsHope Object OfHope, As ConfidenceResurrection, Of BelieversSanhedrinStandingJewish SectsThe Dead Are Raisedgroupszealotspharisees

Are they Hebrews? so am I. Israelites? so am I. Descended from Abraham? so am I. Verse ConceptsChildren Of Abrahamcats

They know me of old. They know, if they chose to admit it, that as a Pharisee I lived by the principles of the strictest party in our religion. Verse ConceptsKnowing PeopleHeresiesJudaismSectsStrictness

and how I outstripped many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house. Verse ConceptsLegalismPharisees, Beliefs OfNew Age BeliefsResolving Conflictzealotscredibility

(The Pharisees and all the Jews decline to eat till they wash their hands up to the wrist, in obedience to the tradition of the elders; Verse ConceptsAblutionelders, as community leadersJews, TheCharacteristics Of PhariseesHow People EatThe Elderlypharisees

and how I outstripped many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house. Verse ConceptsLegalismPharisees, Beliefs OfNew Age BeliefsResolving Conflictzealotscredibility

Then the Pharisees and scribes put this question to him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders? Why do they take their food with 'common' hands?" He said to them, "Isaiah made a grand prophecy about you hypocrites ??as it is written, This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me: vain is their worship of me, for the doctrines they teach are but human precepts. read more.
You drop what God commands and hold to human tradition.

"I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel in all the strictness of our ancestral Law, ardent for God as you all are to-day. Verse ConceptsEducation, Examples OfPaul, Life OfSelf ConfidenceLegalismSitting At The FeetSchoolsTaking The Law To HeartEducationSchoolzealots

so, as Paul wished him to go abroad with him, he took and circumcised him on account of the local Jews, all of whom knew his father had been a Greek. Verse ConceptsCircumcision, physicalMissionary Work, Examples OfGoing TogetherIsrael HardenedJews

They glorified God when they heard it. Then they said to him, "Brother, you see how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, all of them ardent upholders of the Law. Verse ConceptsZealMany In The ChurchSalvation For IsraelSpecific Praising Of GodTaking The Law To Heartzealots

Some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not allowed on the sabbath?" Verse ConceptsComplaintsConfrontationRitualLegalismDisputesPharisees Concerned About ChristThe Sabbath And Christ

and how I outstripped many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house. Verse ConceptsLegalismPharisees, Beliefs OfNew Age BeliefsResolving Conflictzealotscredibility

But some of the believers who belonged to the Pharisaic party got up and said, "Gentiles must be circumcised and told to observe the law of Moses." Verse ConceptsExclusivenessCircumcision, physicalBelieversHeresiesJudaismSectsNecessity Of CircumcisionThose Who Believed In ChristKeep The Commandments!pharisees

The Pharisees said to him, "Look at what they are doing on the sabbath! That is not allowed." Verse ConceptsComplaintsRitualLegalismPharisees Concerned About ChristThe Sabbath And Christ

But the president of the synagogue was annoyed at Jesus healing on the sabbath, and he said to the crowd, "There are six days for work to be done; come during them to get healed, instead of on the sabbath." Verse ConceptsDays, Natural UsePharisees, Beliefs OfLegalismSix DaysAngry With ChristDoing One's WorkJesus HealingThe Sabbath And ChristJesus Healing On Sabbath

So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, "This is the sabbath, you have no right to be carrying your mat." Verse ConceptsThe Sabbath And Christrelaxation

I can vouch for their zeal for God; only, it is not zeal with knowledge. Verse ConceptsZeal, Without KnowledgeUnwise ZealBeing Devoted to God

These men make much of you ??yes, but for dishonest ends; they want to debar you from us, so that you may make much of them. Verse ConceptsExcommunicationmotives

You know the story of my past career in Judaism; you know how furiously I persecuted the church of God and harried it, and how I outstripped many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house.

I can vouch for their zeal for God; only, it is not zeal with knowledge. They would not surrender to the righteousness of God, because they were ignorant of his righteousness and therefore essayed to set up a righteousness of their own.


They glorified God when they heard it. Then they said to him, "Brother, you see how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, all of them ardent upholders of the Law. Verse ConceptsZealMany In The ChurchSalvation For IsraelSpecific Praising Of GodTaking The Law To Heartzealots


A scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you anywhere"; Jesus said to him, "The foxes have their holes, the wild birds have their nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head."

And as they journeyed along the road a man said to him, "I will follow you anywhere." Jesus said to him, "The foxes have their holes, the wild birds have their nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head."

Some of them, it is true, are actually preaching Christ from envy and rivalry, others from goodwill; the latter do it from love to me, knowing that I am set here to defend the gospel, but the former proclaim Christ for their own ends, with mixed motives, intending to annoy me as I lie in prison. read more.
What does it matter? Anyhow, for ulterior ends or honestly, Christ is being proclaimed, and I rejoice over that; yes and I will rejoice over it.

They glorified God when they heard it. Then they said to him, "Brother, you see how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, all of them ardent upholders of the Law. Verse ConceptsZealMany In The ChurchSalvation For IsraelSpecific Praising Of GodTaking The Law To Heartzealots

and how I outstripped many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house. Verse ConceptsLegalismPharisees, Beliefs OfNew Age BeliefsResolving Conflictzealotscredibility

I can vouch for their zeal for God; only, it is not zeal with knowledge. Verse ConceptsZeal, Without KnowledgeUnwise ZealBeing Devoted to God

"I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel in all the strictness of our ancestral Law, ardent for God as you all are to-day. Verse ConceptsEducation, Examples OfPaul, Life OfSelf ConfidenceLegalismSitting At The FeetSchoolsTaking The Law To HeartEducationSchoolzealots

so, as Paul wished him to go abroad with him, he took and circumcised him on account of the local Jews, all of whom knew his father had been a Greek. Verse ConceptsCircumcision, physicalMissionary Work, Examples OfGoing TogetherIsrael HardenedJews

They glorified God when they heard it. Then they said to him, "Brother, you see how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, all of them ardent upholders of the Law. Verse ConceptsZealMany In The ChurchSalvation For IsraelSpecific Praising Of GodTaking The Law To Heartzealots

Some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not allowed on the sabbath?" Verse ConceptsComplaintsConfrontationRitualLegalismDisputesPharisees Concerned About ChristThe Sabbath And Christ

and how I outstripped many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house. Verse ConceptsLegalismPharisees, Beliefs OfNew Age BeliefsResolving Conflictzealotscredibility

But some of the believers who belonged to the Pharisaic party got up and said, "Gentiles must be circumcised and told to observe the law of Moses." Verse ConceptsExclusivenessCircumcision, physicalBelieversHeresiesJudaismSectsNecessity Of CircumcisionThose Who Believed In ChristKeep The Commandments!pharisees

The Pharisees said to him, "Look at what they are doing on the sabbath! That is not allowed." Verse ConceptsComplaintsRitualLegalismPharisees Concerned About ChristThe Sabbath And Christ

But the president of the synagogue was annoyed at Jesus healing on the sabbath, and he said to the crowd, "There are six days for work to be done; come during them to get healed, instead of on the sabbath." Verse ConceptsDays, Natural UsePharisees, Beliefs OfLegalismSix DaysAngry With ChristDoing One's WorkJesus HealingThe Sabbath And ChristJesus Healing On Sabbath

So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, "This is the sabbath, you have no right to be carrying your mat." Verse ConceptsThe Sabbath And Christrelaxation

I can vouch for their zeal for God; only, it is not zeal with knowledge. Verse ConceptsZeal, Without KnowledgeUnwise ZealBeing Devoted to God