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The Conversion of Paul
Acts 9:1–31 · c. AD 33–36

From Jerusalem to Damascus and on to Tarsus – Saul meets the risen Jesus on the road, is baptized by Ananias, escapes over the city wall and is sent home to Tarsus (Acts 9:1–30).

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The Conversion of Paul on map

Acts 9:1–31 · c. AD 33–36

From Jerusalem to Damascus and on to Tarsus – Saul meets the risen Jesus on the road, is baptized by Ananias, escapes over the city wall and is sent home to Tarsus (Acts 9:1–30).

Trip stops (8)

1 Jerusalem Acts 9:1-2 Saul is still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He goes to the high priest and asks for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that he can bring any who belong to the Way bound to Jerusalem – both men and women.
2 The road to Damascus Acts 9:3-9 Near Damascus a light from heaven shines around him. He falls to the ground and hears a voice: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" – "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." When he gets up he is blind and has to be led into the city by the hand. The location is uncertain; tradition points to the area near Kaukab south-west of the city.
3 Damascus – the Street called Straight Acts 9:10-19 For three days Saul sees nothing and neither eats nor drinks. The Lord sends the disciple Ananias to the house of Judas on the Street called Straight. Ananias is afraid, but the Lord says: "He is a chosen instrument of mine." Ananias lays his hands on him, something like scales falls from his eyes, and he is baptised. The street still exists in the old city of Damascus.
4 Damascus – the synagogues Acts 9:19-22 At once Saul proclaims in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. People are amazed: Is this not the man who wanted to destroy those who call on this name? But he grows more and more powerful and proves that Jesus is the Christ.
5 Damascus – the escape over the wall Acts 9:23-25 After some time the Jews plot to kill him and watch the city gates day and night. At night the disciples let him down through an opening in the wall in a basket. Paul himself tells of the escape in 2 Cor 11:32–33, and in Gal 1:17–18 of a stay in Arabia during these years.
6 Jerusalem Acts 9:26-29 The disciples in Jerusalem are afraid of him and do not believe that he is a disciple. Barnabas takes him and tells the apostles how he has seen the Lord and spoken boldly in Damascus. Saul preaches boldly in the city, but the Greek-speaking Jews seek to kill him.
7 Caesarea Acts 9:30 When the brothers learn of the plot, they bring him down to the port of Caesarea on the Mediterranean.
8 Tarsus Acts 9:30-31 From Caesarea Saul is sent on to Tarsus in Cilicia, the city where he was born (Acts 22:3). He stays here until Barnabas fetches him to Antioch (Acts 11:25–26). Meanwhile the church has peace throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria.

About the trip

Acts 9 tells how Saul, who persecuted the Christians, became one of them himself. The map follows the geography of the chapter: from Jerusalem, where he was given authority to arrest the Christians, along the road to Damascus, where he met Jesus, to the city where he was baptised and began to preach – and from there to Jerusalem, Caesarea and his home town of Tarsus.

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