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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,
Acts 9:11 · King James Version
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,
  • BSB “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.
  • 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 9:30Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.
  • Acts 11:25Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul:
  • Acts 22:3I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
  • Acts 21:39But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.
  • Luke 11:9–10And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
  • Luke 18:7–14And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
  • Matt 7:7–8Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
  • Ps 50:15And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
  • Acts 2:21And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
  • Acts 11:13And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;
  • Deut 4:29But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
  • Isa 55:6–7Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
  • Zech 12:10And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
  • Jer 29:12–13Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
  • Jer 31:18–20I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
  • Ps 40:1–2I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
  • 2 Chr 33:18–19Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.
  • Job 33:18–28He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
  • Ps 32:3–6When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
  • Acts 8:26And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
  • 2 Chr 33:12–13And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
  • John 4:10Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
  • Acts 10:5–6And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
  • Luke 23:42–43And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
  • Jonah 2:1–4Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,
  • Ps 130:1–3Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.
  • Acts 8:22Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
  • Prov 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination 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.