26 Bible Verses about Convincing

So Ahab sent [word] among the {Israelites}, and he assembled the prophets to Mount Carmel. Elijah approached to all the people and said, "How long [will] you [go] limping over two opinions? If Yahweh [is] God, go after him; but if Baal, go after him." But the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone [am] left a prophet of Yahweh, but the prophets of Baal [are] four hundred and fifty men.read more.
Let them give us two bulls, and let them choose for themselves one bull, cut him in pieces, and put it on the wood, but don't let them start a fire on it. I will prepare the other bull and set it on the wood, but I will put no fire [on it]. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and it shall be that the god who answers by fire, he [is] God." Then all the people answered and said, "The word [is] good!" Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you [are] the majority, and call on the name of your god, but don't set fire [under it]." So they took the bull that he allowed to them, prepared it, and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "O Baal, answer us!" But there was no voice and there was no answer, so they limped about the altar which they had made. It happened at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he [is] a god! Perhaps he is meditating, or {is using the bathroom}, or [is] on a journey. Perhaps he [is] asleep and must wake up!" So they called out with a loud voice, and they cut themselves with swords and with spears as was their custom, until the blood poured out over them. It happened as noon passed, they raged until the [time of] the evening offering, but there was no voice, there was no answer, and no [one] paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me," so all the people came closer to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh [that had been] destroyed. Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of God came, saying, "Israel shall be your name." With them, he built an altar in the name of Yahweh, and he made a trench {which would have held} about two seahs of seed, all around the altar. And he arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces, and placed [it] on the wood. Then he said, "Fill four jars [with] water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." He said, "Do [it] again!" They did [it] again. He said, "Do [it] a third time!" So they did [it] a third time. The water went all around the altar, and the trench also was filled [with] water. It happened at the offering of the [evening] oblation, Elijah the prophet went near, and he said, "O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; let it be known today that you [are] God in Israel and [that] I [am] your servant and [that] I have done all of these things by your words. Answer me, O Yahweh, answer me; that this people may know that you, O Yahweh, [are] God and that you have turned their hearts back again." Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and it consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; and the water which [was] in the trench it licked up! When all the people saw, they fell on their faces and said, "Yahweh, he [is] God! Yahweh, he [is] God!"

And the word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second [time], saying, "Get up! Go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim to it the message that I [am] telling you." So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was {an extraordinarily great city}--a journey of three days [across].read more.
And Jonah began to go into the city a journey of one day, and he cried out and said, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be demolished!" And the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth--from the greatest of them {to the least important}. And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. And he had a proclamation made, and said, "In Nineveh, by a decree of the king and his nobles: "No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything! They must not eat, and they must not drink water! And [the] human beings and [the] animals must be covered [with] sackcloth! And they must call forcefully to God, and each must turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind and turn {from his blazing anger} {so that} we will not perish."

To whom shall I speak and admonish, that they may hear? Look, their ears [are] {closed}, and they are not able to listen attentively. Look, the word of Yahweh is to them an object of scorn, they do not delight in it.

When he came to the king, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to the battle, or shall we refrain?" He said to him, "Go up and triumph, and Yahweh will give [it] into the hand of the king." Then the king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear that you shall not tell me [anything] but truth in the name of Yahweh?" So he said, "I saw all of Israel scattering to the mountains, like the sheep without a shepherd. Yahweh also said, 'There are no masters for these, let them return in peace, each to his house.'"read more.
Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not say to you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but disaster?" And he said, "Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne with all the hosts of heaven standing beside him from his right hand and from his left [hand]. And Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?' Then {this one was saying one thing and the other one was saying another}. Then a spirit came out and stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice him,' and Yahweh said to him, 'How?' He said, 'I will go out and I will be a false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You shall entice and succeed, go out and do so.' So then, see that Yahweh has placed a false spirit in the mouth of all of these your prophets, and Yahweh has spoken disaster concerning you." Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah came near and slapped Micaiah on the cheek and said, "When did the Spirit of Yahweh pass from me to speak with you?" Then Micaiah said, "Behold, you [are about to] see on that day when you go {from room to room} to hide." The king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the commander of the city and to Jehoash the son of the king; and say, 'Thus says the king: "Put this [fellow in] the house of imprisonment and feed him reduced rations of food and water until I come in peace." '" Then Micaiah said, "If you indeed return in peace, then Yahweh has not spoken with me." Then he said, "Let all the peoples hear!"

And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to war or shall I cease?" And he said, "Go up and triumph! They shall be given into your hand." But the king said to him, "How many times shall I make you swear that you speak nothing except the truth in the name of Yahweh?" Then he said, "I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains like sheep that had no shepherd. And Yahweh said, 'These have no masters; let them return to his own house in peace.'"read more.
Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not say to you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but only disaster?" Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of Yahweh: I saw Yahweh sitting upon his throne with all the host of heaven standing on his right and on his left. And Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel that he would go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?' And one said this, and another said that. Then a spirit came forth and stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice him.' Then Yahweh said to him, 'By what means?' Then he said, 'I will go forth and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You will entice him and will also succeed. Go out and do so.' So now, behold, Yahweh has put a spirit of deception into the mouths of these your prophets. Yahweh has spoken disaster against you." Then Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "{Which way} did the Spirit of Yahweh come from me to speak to you?" Then Micaiah said, "Behold, you will see on that day when you go into a private room to hide yourself." Then the king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the commander of the city and to Jehoash the son of the king, and say, 'Thus says the king: "Put this one into the prison house, and let him eat {a meager ration of bread and water} until I return in peace." '" And Micaiah said, "If you surely return in peace Yahweh has not spoken with me." Then he said, "Hear, peoples, all of them!"

And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, {I have sent them over and over again}, {saying}, 'Turn back please each one from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and you must not go after other gods to serve them, {so that you may live} on the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.' But you did not incline your ear and you did not listen to me.

And the children [are] {impudent} and {stubborn}, [and so] I am sending you to them, and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh!' And they, whether they listen or whether they fail [to listen], for they [are] a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet was in their midst.

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam the king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to endure all of his words. For this Amos has said, 'Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go into exile [away] from his land.'" And Amaziah said to Amos, " seer, go, flee to the land of Judah and earn food there and prophesy there!"read more.
But do not prophesy again at Bethel, because this [is] a sanctuary of a king and this [is] a temple of a kingdom."

But as many signs [as] he had performed before them, they did not believe in him, in order that the word of the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, who said, "Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" For this [reason] they were not able to believe, because again Isaiah said,read more.
"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they see with [their] eyes and understand with [their] hearts and turn, and I heal them."

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

Make the heart of this people insensitive, and make its ears unresponsive, and shut its eyes so that it may not look with its eyes and listen with its ears and comprehend [with] its mind and turn back, and it may be healed [for] him."

For this [reason] I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand, and with reference to them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says, "{You will listen carefully} and will never understand, and {you will look closely} and will never perceive. For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they hear with difficulty, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them."

And when he was alone, those around him together with the twelve began asking him about the parables. And he said to them, "To you has been granted the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything is in parables, so that '{they may look closely} and not perceive, and {they may listen carefully} and not understand, lest they turn and it be forgiven them.'"

And he said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest [they are] in parables, so that 'Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'

And he said, "Go and say to this people, 'Keep on listening and do not comprehend! And keep on looking and do not understand!' Make the heart of this people insensitive, and make its ears unresponsive, and shut its eyes so that it may not look with its eyes and listen with its ears and comprehend [with] its mind and turn back, and it may be healed [for] him."

Then some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem began to say, "Is this not [the one] whom they are seeking to kill? And behold, he is speaking openly and they are saying nothing to him! Can it be that the rulers truly know that this man is the Christ? Yet we know where this man is from, but the Christ, whenever he comes--no one knows where he is from!"read more.
Then Jesus cried out in the temple [courts], teaching and saying, "You both know me and you know where I am from! And I have not come from myself, but the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know. I know him, because I am from him and he sent me." So they were seeking to seize him, and no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. But from the crowd many believed in him and were saying, "Whenever the Christ comes, he will not perform more signs than this man has done, [will he]?" The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these [things] about him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers in order {to take him into custody }. Then Jesus said, "Yet a little time I am with you, and I am going to the one who sent me. You will seek me and will not find [me], and where I am, you cannot come." So the Jews said to one another, "Where [is] this one going to go, that we will not find him? He is not going to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, [is he]? What is this saying that he said, 'You will seek me and will not find [me], and where I am, you cannot come'?" Now on the last day of the feast--the great [day]--Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let him drink, the one who believes in me. Just as the scripture said, 'Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.'" Now he said this concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. For the Spirit was not yet [given], because Jesus had not yet been glorified.) Then, [when they] heard these words, [some] from the crowd began to say, "This man is truly the Prophet!" Others were saying, "This man is the Christ!" But others were saying, "No, for the Christ does not come from Galilee, [does he]? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" So there was a division in the crowd because of him.

Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Get up and go toward the south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert [road].) And he got up [and] went, and behold, [there was] a man, an Ethiopian eunuch (a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasury) who had come to worship in Jerusalem and was returning and sitting in his chariot, and reading aloud the prophet Isaiah.read more.
And the Spirit said to Philip, "Approach and join this chariot." So Philip ran up to [it] [and] heard him reading aloud Isaiah the prophet and said, "So then, do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "So how could I, unless someone will guide me?" And he invited Philip to come up [and] sit with him. Now the passage of scripture that he was reading aloud was this: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer [is] silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was taken from him. Who can describe his {descendants}? For his life was taken away from the earth." And the eunuch answered [and] said to Philip, "I ask you, about whom does the prophet say this--about himself or about someone else?" So Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this scripture, proclaimed the good news to him [about] Jesus. And as they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" And he ordered the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water--Philip and the eunuch--and he 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 height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For the love of Christ controls us, [because we] have concluded this: that one died for all; as a result all died. And he died for all, in order that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.

for which reason also I suffer these [things]. But [I am] not ashamed, because I know in whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard [what] I have entrusted until that day.

And he argued in the synagogue every Sabbath, attempting to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

{And as was his custom}, Paul went in to them and on three Sabbath [days] he discussed with them from the scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that it was necessary [for] the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and [saying], "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, and [also] a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few of the prominent women.

So he entered into the synagogue [and] was speaking boldly for three months, discussing and attempting to convince [them] concerning the kingdom of God.

But Agrippa [said] to Paul, "In a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?" And Paul [replied], "I pray to God, whether in a short time or in a long time, not only you but also all those who are listening to me today may become such [people] as I also am, except for these bonds!"

And [when they] had set a day with him, many more came to him at his lodging place, to whom he was explaining from early in the morning until evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and attempting to convince them about Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets. And [some] were convinced [by] what was said, but [others] refused to believe.

Therefore, [because we] know the fear of the Lord, we are attempting to persuade people, but we are revealed to God, and I hope to be revealed in your consciences.