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“Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
Acts 9:11 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The Lord said to him, “Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying,
  • KJV And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
  • NKJV So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saulof Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.
  • NASB And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying,
  • NLT The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The Lord told Ananias exactly where to find Saul, adding that he was praying. The fierce persecutor is now a man at prayer.

Overview

The precise directions show God's intimate knowledge and sovereign orchestration of events. The note that Saul is praying signals the genuine change already at work in him. The one who breathed threats now calls on the Lord, evidence that grace has begun its transforming work.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 28

  • Acts 9:30When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
  • Acts 11:25Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
  • Acts 22:3“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just as zealous for God as any of you here today.
  • Acts 21:39But Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Now I beg you to allow me to speak to the people.”
  • Luke 11:9–10So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
  • Luke 18:7–14Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?
  • Matt 7:7–8Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
  • Ps 50:15Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
  • Acts 2:21And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
  • Acts 11:13He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter.
  • Deut 4:29But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
  • Isa 55:6–7Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
  • Zech 12:10Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
  • Jer 29:12–13Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
  • Jer 31:18–20I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.
  • Ps 40:1–2For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry.
  • 2 Chr 33:18–19As for the rest of the acts of Manasseh, along with his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, they are indeed written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
  • Job 33:18–28to preserve his soul from the Pit and his life from perishing by the sword.
  • Ps 32:3–6When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
  • Acts 8:26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
  • 2 Chr 33:12–13And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.
  • John 4:10Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
  • Acts 10:5–6Now send men to Joppa to call for a man named Simon who is called Peter.
  • Luke 23:42–43Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”
  • Jonah 2:1–4From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God,
  • Ps 130:1–3A song of ascents. Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD!
  • Acts 8:22Repent, therefore, of your wickedness, and pray to the Lord. Perhaps He will forgive you for the intent of your heart.
  • Prov 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (10)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Acts 9:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 9:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.