Daily Devotions · Wednesday, October 21
Today's reading
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day. Here's today's.
Job 9–10 · Acts 13–14
Job 9–10 · Acts 13–14, Berean Standard Bible
Job 9
Then Job answered: 2 “Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God? 3 If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. 4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered? 5 He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger. 6 He shakes the earth from its place, so that its foundations tremble. 7 He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars. 8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. 9 He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. 10 He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number. 11 Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him. 12 If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’ 13 God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him. 14 How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him? 15 For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy. 16 If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice. 17 For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause. 18 He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness. 19 If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him? 20 Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty. 21 Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life. 22 It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ 23 When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent. 24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it? 25 My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good. 26 They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey. 27 If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint and change my expression and smile,’ 28 I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me. 29 Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain? 30 If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, 31 then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me. 32 For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court. 33 Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both. 34 Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me. 35 Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own.
Job 10
“I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me. 3 Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked? 4 Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as man sees? 5 Are Your days like those of a mortal, or Your years like those of a man, 6 that You should seek my iniquity and search out my sin— 7 though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand? 8 Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me? 9 Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust? 10 Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese? 11 You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. 12 You have granted me life and loving devotion, and Your care has preserved my spirit. 13 Yet You concealed these things in Your heart, and I know that this was in Your mind: 14 If I sinned, You would take note, and would not acquit me of my iniquity. 15 If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction. 16 Should I hold my head high, You would hunt me like a lion, and again display Your power against me. 17 You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me in wave after wave. 18 Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me! 19 If only I had never come to be, but had been carried from the womb to the grave. 20 Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort, 21 before I go—never to return—to a land of darkness and gloom, 22 to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”
Acts 13
Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. 4 So Barnabas and Saul, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. And John was with them as their helper. 6 They traveled through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, a man of intelligence, summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas 10 and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord? 11 Now look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and for a time you will be blind and unable to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord. 13 After setting sail from Paphos, Paul and his companions came to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14 And from Perga, they traveled inland to Pisidian Antioch, where they entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent word to them: “Brothers, if you have a word of encouragement for the people, please speak.” 16 Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and began to speak: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who fear God, listen to me! 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers. He made them into a great people during their stay in Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out of that land. 18 He endured their conduct for about forty years in the wilderness. 19 And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21 Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. 22 After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in its entirety.’ 23 From the descendants of this man, God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised. 24 Before the arrival of Jesus, John preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 As John was completing his course, he said, ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not that One. But there is One coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’ 26 Brothers, children of Abraham, and you Gentiles who fear God, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. 27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning Him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28 And though they found no ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have Him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead, 31 and for many days He was seen by those who had accompanied Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now His witnesses to our people. 32 And now we proclaim to you the good news: What God promised our fathers 33 He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.’ 34 In fact, God raised Him from the dead, never to see decay. As He has said: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’ 35 So also, He says in another Psalm: ‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’ 36 For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay. 37 But the One whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. 38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. 40 Watch out, then, that what was spoken by the prophets does not happen to you: 41 ‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’” 42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people urged them to continue this message on the next Sabbath. 43 After the synagogue was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44 On the following Sabbath, nearly the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord spread throughout that region. 50 The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 14
At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue, where they spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. 4 The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles. 5 But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them, 6 they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding region, 7 where they continued to preach the gospel. 8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. 9 This man was listening to the words of Paul, who looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed. 10 In a loud voice Paul called out, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk. 11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the Lycaonian language: “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, hoping to offer a sacrifice along with the crowds. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting, 15 “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. 16 In past generations, He let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 Even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could hardly stop the crowds from sacrificing to them. 19 Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead. 20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. And the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. 21 They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed. 24 After passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From Attalia they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had just completed. 27 When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they spent a long time there with the disciples.
Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain.
How to SOAP
Grab a journal and a pen. Read the chapters above and watch for the verse that stops you. Then take it through four steps.
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Scripture
Write out the verse that stood out to you.
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Observation
What is it saying? Who is speaking, and to whom?
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Application
What does it mean for your life today? Be specific.
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Prayer
Talk to God about it. Ask Him to help you live it.
Why daily devotions?
Devotions are time set aside each day to read God's Word and let Him speak. The point isn't checking off chapters. It's meeting with Him.
Ten or fifteen minutes is enough to start. Pick a time and a place and keep the appointment. Mornings work well for a lot of us, before the phone and the day start talking.
Missed a day? Don't start over. Read today's chapters and keep going.