26 Bible Verses about Convincing

Ahab sent for the Israelis and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel, where Elijah approached all the people and asked them, "How long will you keep hesitating between both sides? If the LORD is God, go after him. If Baal, go after him." But the people didn't say a word. So Elijah told the people, "I'm the only one left over as a prophet of the LORD, am I? But Baal's prophets number 450 men? read more.
So let them provide two oxen. They can choose one ox for themselves. Cut it up, lay it on top of some wood, but don't set fire to it. I will prepare the other ox and lay it on top of some wood, and I won't set fire to it. Then you can call on the name of your god, and I'll call on the name of the LORD. Let the God who answers by fire be our God!" "That's a good idea!" all the people shouted. So Elijah told the prophets of Baal, "Choose an ox for yourselves and you prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but don't set fire to the offering." So they took the ox that was given to them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from early morning until noon. "Baal! Answer us!" they cried. But there was no response. Nobody answered. So they kept on dancing around the altar that they had made. Starting about noon, Elijah began to tease them: "Shout louder! "He's a god, so maybe he's busy. "Maybe he's relieving himself. "Maybe he's busy someplace. "Maybe he's taking a nap and somebody needs to wake him up." So the prophets of Baal cried even louder and slashed themselves with swords and lances until their blood gushed out all over them, as was their custom. They kept on raving right through midday and until it was time to offer the evening sacrifice, but there was still no response. Nobody answered, and nobody paid attention. Eventually, Elijah told everybody, "Come here!" So everybody approached him, and he repaired the LORD's altar that had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob's descendants, to whom the message from the LORD had come that "Israel is to be your name." So Elijah used the stones to build an altar to the name of the LORD. But then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures of seed. Then he laid the wood in order, cut the bull into pieces, and laid them on top of the wood. "Fill four pitchers with water," he ordered. "Then pour them out on the burnt offering and the wood." "Do it a second time," he ordered. So they did it a second time. "Do it a third time," he said. So they did it a third time. The water ran down around the altar and completely filled the trench. As the time for the evening offering arrived, Elijah the prophet approached and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I, your servant, have done all of this in obedience to your word. Answer me, LORD! Answer me so that this people may know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning back their hearts again." Right then the LORD's fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even the water that was in the trench! When all the people saw what had happened, they fell flat on their faces and cried out "The LORD is God! The LORD is God!"

This message from the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you." So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh to do what the LORD had ordered.read more.
Now Nineveh was a very large city, requiring a three-day journey to cross through it. As Jonah started into the city on the first day's journey, he proclaimed the message, "40 days more and Nineveh will be overthrown!" The people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least important. When the message reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, removed his royal garments, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat down in ashes. Then he had this proclamation published throughout Nineveh: "By decree of the king and his nobles: No man or animal, herd or flock, is to taste anything, graze, or drink water. Instead, let both man and animal clothe themselves with sackcloth and cry out to God forcefully. Let every person turn from his evil ways and from his tendency to do violence. Who knows but that God may relent, have compassion, and turn from his fierce anger, so that we are not exterminated?"

To whom will I speak and give a warning so they'll listen? Look, their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. Look, this message from the LORD is contemptible to them; they don't delight in it.

When Micaiah approached the king, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?" "Go to war," Micaiah replied, "and you will be successful, because the LORD will hand it over to the king!" When he heard this, the king asked him, "How many times do I have to make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth? Now do it in the name of the LORD!" So Micaiah replied: "I saw all of Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD told me, "These have no master, so let them each return to his own home in peace.'"read more.
Then the king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he wouldn't prophesy anything good about me, but only evil?" But Micaiah responded, "Therefore, listen to what the LORD has to say. I saw the LORD, sitting on his throne, and the entire Heavenly Army was standing around him on his right hand and on his left hand. "The LORD asked, "Who will tempt King Ahab of Israel to attack Ramoth-gilead, so that he will die there?' And one was saying one thing and one was saying another. "But then a spirit approached, stood in front of the LORD, and said, "I will entice him.' "And the LORD asked him, "How?' ""I will go,' he announced, "and I will be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets!' "So the LORD said, "You're just the one to deceive him. You will be successful. Go and do it.' "Now therefore, listen! The LORD has placed a lying spirit in the mouth of all of these prophets of yours, because the LORD has determined to bring disaster upon you." Right then, Chenaanah's son Zedekiah approached Micaiah and struck him on the cheek. Then he asked him, "How did the Spirit of the LORD move from me to speak to you?" Micaiah replied, "You'll see how when the day comes that you run away to hide yourself in a closet!" Then the king of Israel ordered, "Take Micaiah and place him in the custody of Amon, the city governor. Hand him over to Joash, the king's son. Give him this order: "Place him in prison on survival rations of bread and water only until I come back safely.'" "If you return alive," Micaiah responded, "then the LORD has not spoken by me." Then he added, "Listen, all you people!"

When Micaiah approached the king, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?" "Go to war," Micaiah replied, "and you will be successful, because the LORD will hand it over to the king!" When he heard this, the king asked him, "How many times do I have to ask you? Tell me nothing but the truth, and do it in the name of the LORD!" And so Micaiah replied: "I saw all of Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD told me, "These have no master, so let them each return to his own home in peace.'"read more.
Then the king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he wouldn't prophesy anything good about me, but only evil?" But Micaiah responded, "Therefore, listen to what the LORD has to say. I saw the LORD, sitting on his throne, and the entire Heavenly Army was surrounding him on his right hand and on his left hand. "The LORD asked, "Who will tempt King Ahab of Israel to attack Ramoth-gilead, so that he will die there?' And one was saying one thing and one was saying another. "But then a spirit approached, stood in front of the LORD, and said, "I will entice him.' "And the LORD asked him, "How?' ""I will go,' he announced, "and I will be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets!' "So the LORD said, "You're just the one to deceive him. You will be successful. Go and do it.' Now therefore, listen! The LORD has placed a lying spirit in the mouth of all of these prophets of yours, because the LORD has determined to bring disaster upon you." As if on cue, Chenaanah's son Zedekiah approached Micaiah and struck him on the cheek. Then he asked him, "How did the Spirit of the LORD move from me to speak to you?" Micaiah replied, "You'll learn the answer to that question when the day comes that you run away to hide yourself in a closet!" Then the king of Israel ordered, "Take Micaiah and place him in the custody of Amon, the city governor. Hand him over to Joash, the king's son. Give him this order: "Place him in prison on survival rations only until I come back safely.'" "If you return alive," Micaiah responded, "then the LORD has not spoken by me." Then he added, "Listen, everybody!"

I've sent you all my servants, the prophets, sending them again and again. I've said, "Each of you turn from his evil behavior and make your deeds right. Don't follow other gods to serve them. Then you will remain in the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.' But you haven't paid attention and you haven't obeyed me.

They're stubborn and strong willed. I'm sending you to them to tell them what the LORD says. Whether this rebellious group listens to you or not, at least they'll realize that a prophet had appeared in their midst!

So Amaziah priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel. It said, "Amos has been conspiring against you in the very heart of the house of Israel! The land cannot bear everything he has to say, because Amos is saying this: "By the sword will Jeroboam die, and Israel will surely go into exile far from her homeland.'" So Amaziah kept saying to Amos, "Get out of here, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Live there and prophesy there. read more.
Don't prophesy anymore at Bethel, because it's the king's sanctuary and a temple of the kingdom."

Although he had performed numerous signs in their presence, they did not believe in him, so that what the prophet Isaiah spoke might be fulfilled when he said: "Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the Lord's power been revealed?" This is why they could not believe: Isaiah also said,read more.
"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not perceive with their eyes, and understand with their mind and turn, and I would heal them."

"Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

Dull the mind of this people, deafen their ears, and blind their eyes. By doing so, they won't see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed."

That's why I speak to them in parables, because "they look but don't see, and they listen but don't hear or understand.' "With them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says: "You will listen and listen but never understand. You will look and look but never comprehend, for this people's heart has become dull, and their ears are hard of hearing. They have shut their eyes so that they might not see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.'

When he was alone with the Twelve and those around him, they began to ask him about the parables. He told them, "The secret about the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything comes in parables so that "they may see clearly but not perceive, and they may hear clearly but not understand, otherwise they might turn around and be forgiven.'"

So he said, "You have been given knowledge about the secrets of the kingdom of God. But to others they are given in parables, so that "they might look but not see, and they might listen but not understand.'"

"Go!" he responded. "Tell this people: ""Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' Dull the mind of this people, deafen their ears, and blind their eyes. By doing so, they won't see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed."

Then some of the people of Jerusalem began saying, "This is the man they are trying to kill, isn't it? And look, he is speaking in public, and they are not saying anything to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? We know where this man comes from. But when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from."read more.
At this point Jesus, still teaching in the Temple, shouted, "So you know me and know where I've come from? I haven't come on my own accord. But the one who sent me is true, and he's the one you don't know. I know him because I've come from him, and he sent me." Then the Jewish leaders tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. However, many in the crowd believed in him. They kept saying, "When the Messiah comes, he won't do more signs than this man has done, will he?" The Pharisees heard the crowd debating these things about him, so the high priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Jesus. Then Jesus said, "I'll be with you only a little while longer, and then I'm going back to the one who sent me. You'll look for me but won't find me. And where I am, you cannot come." Then the Jewish leaders asked one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we won't be able to find him? Surely he's not going to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? What does this statement mean that he said, "You'll look for me but won't find me,' and, "Where I am, you cannot come'?" On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have rivers of living water flowing from his heart." Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who were believing in him were to receive, because the Spirit was not yet present and Jesus had not yet been glorified. When they heard these words, some in the crowd were saying, "This really is the Prophet," while others were saying, "This is the Messiah!" But some were saying, "The Messiah doesn't come from Galilee, does he? Doesn't the Scripture say that the Messiah is from David's family and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?" So there was a division in the crowd because of him.

Now an angel of the Lord told Philip, "Get up and go south on the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a deserted road." So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, who was a member of the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was in charge of all her treasures and had come up to Jerusalem to worship. Now he was returning home, seated in his chariot, and reading from the prophet Isaiah.read more.
The Spirit told Philip, "Approach that chariot and stay near it." So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah out loud. Philip asked, "Do you understand what you're reading?" The man replied, "How can I unless someone guides me?" So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him. This was the passage of Scripture he was reading: "Like a sheep he was led away to be slaughtered, and like a lamb is silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his descendants? For his life is taken away from the earth." The eunuch asked Philip, "I ask you, who is the prophet talking about? Himself? Or someone else?" Then Philip began to speak, and, starting from this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, "Look, there's some water. What keeps me from being baptized?" So he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor anything above, nor anything below, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is ours in union with the Messiah Jesus, our Lord.

The love of the Messiah controls us, for we are convinced of this: that one person died for all people; therefore, all people have died. He died for all people, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the one who died and rose for them.

That is why I suffer as I do. However, I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I'm convinced that he is able to protect what he has entrusted to me until the day that he comes.

Every Sabbath, he would speak in the synagogue, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

As usual, Paul entered there and on three Sabbaths discussed the Scriptures with them. He explained and showed them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: "This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Messiah." Some of them were persuaded and began to be associated with Paul and Silas, especially a large crowd of devout Greeks and the wives of many prominent men.

He went into the synagogue and spoke there boldly for three months, holding discussions and persuading those who heard him about the kingdom of God.

Agrippa asked Paul, "Can you so quickly persuade me to become a Christian?" Paul replied, "Whether quickly or not, I wish to God that not only you but everyone listening to me today would become what I am except for these chains!"

So they set a day to meet with Paul and came out in large numbers to see him where he was staying. From morning until evening, he continued to explain the kingdom of God to them, trying to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets. Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others wouldn't believe.

Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade people. We ourselves are perfectly known to God. I hope we are also really known to your consciences.