Daily Devotions · April 11
Reading for April 11
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
1 Samuel 11–12 · 1 Chronicles 1 · 2 Corinthians 11
1 Samuel 11–12 · 1 Chronicles 1 · 2 Corinthians 11, Berean Standard Bible
1 Samuel 11
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” 2 But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you on one condition, that I may put out everyone’s right eye and bring reproach upon all Israel.” 3 “Hold off for seven days,” replied the elders of Jabesh, “and let us send messengers throughout Israel. If there is no one to save us, we will surrender to you.” 4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud. 5 Just then Saul was returning from the field, behind his oxen. “What troubles the people?” asked Saul. “Why are they weeping?” And they relayed to him the words of the men from Jabesh. 6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he burned with great anger. 7 He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent them by messengers throughout the land of Israel, proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not march behind Saul and Samuel.” Then the terror of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out together as one man. 8 And when Saul numbered them at Bezek, there were 300,000 Israelites and 30,000 men of Judah. 9 So they said to the messengers who had come, “Tell the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Deliverance will be yours tomorrow by the time the sun is hot.’” And when the messengers relayed this to the men of Jabesh, they rejoiced. 10 Then the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Tomorrow we will come out, and you can do with us whatever seems good to you.” 11 The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions, and during the morning watch they invaded the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them, until the hottest part of the day. And the survivors were so scattered that no two of them were left together. 12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who said that Saul should not reign over us? Bring those men here so we can kill them!” 13 But Saul ordered, “No one shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.” 14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites rejoiced greatly.
1 Samuel 12
Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to your voice in all that you have said to me, and I have set over you a king. 2 Now here is the king walking before you, and I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.” 4 “You have not cheated us or oppressed us,” they replied, “nor have you taken anything from the hand of man.” 5 Samuel said to them, “The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is a witness,” they replied. 6 Then Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is the One who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now present yourselves, so that I may confront you before the LORD with all the righteous acts He has done for you and your fathers. 8 When Jacob went to Egypt, your fathers cried out to the LORD, and He sent them Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 9 But they forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. 10 Then they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, that we may serve You.’ 11 So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely. 12 But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king. 13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you requested. Behold, the LORD has placed a king over you. 14 If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and if you do not rebel against the command of the LORD, and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the LORD your God, then all will be well. 15 But if you disobey the LORD and rebel against His command, then the hand of the LORD will be against you as it was against your fathers. 16 Now, therefore, present yourselves and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain, so that you will know and see what a great evil you have committed in the sight of the LORD by asking for a king.” 18 So Samuel called to the LORD, and on that day the LORD sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. 19 They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.” 20 “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “Even though you have committed all this evil, do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty. 22 Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own. 23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way. 24 Above all, fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. 25 But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
1 Chronicles 1
Adam, Seth, Enosh, 2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, 3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah. 4 The sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 5 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 6 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 7 And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites. 8 The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 9 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 10 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who began to be a mighty one on the earth. 11 Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, the Anamites, the Lehabites, the Naphtuhites, 12 the Pathrusites, the Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came), and the Caphtorites. 13 And Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, 14 the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 15 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 16 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. 17 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. 18 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber. 19 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother was named Joktan. 20 And Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 21 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 22 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 23 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 24 So from Shem came Arphaxad, Shelah, 25 Eber, Peleg, Reu, 26 Serug, Nahor, Terah, 27 and Abram (that is, Abraham). 28 The sons of Abraham were Isaac and Ishmael. 29 These are their genealogies: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 30 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, 31 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael. 32 The sons born to Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. 33 The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All of these were Keturah’s sons. 34 Abraham was the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel. 35 The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. 36 The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz; and by Timna, Amalek. 37 The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. 38 The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. 39 The sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan’s sister. 40 The sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. 41 The son of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 42 The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. 43 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites: Bela son of Beor. His city was named Dinhabah. 44 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place. 45 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 46 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Avith. 47 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place. 48 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place. 49 When Shaul died, Baal-hanan son of Achbor reigned in his place. 50 When Baal-hanan died, Hadad reigned in his place. His city was named Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-zahab. 51 Then Hadad died. Now the chiefs of Edom were Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 52 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 53 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 54 Magdiel, and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom.
2 Corinthians 11
I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness, but you are already doing that. 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it very easily. 5 I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.” 6 Although I am not a polished speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way possible. 7 Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting their support in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so. 10 As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 12 But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions. 16 I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 17 In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool. 18 Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast. 19 For you gladly put up with fools, since you are so wise. 20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face. 21 To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am speaking as if I were out of my mind.) I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. 26 In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers, 27 in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief? 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is forever worthy of praise, knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas secured the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me. 33 But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his grasp.
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.
Your SOAP journal
Write your SOAP here. Tap any verse in the reading to add it to Scripture. Your journal saves on this device only, so no one else sees it.
Added to your journal. Go to journal
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.