Daily Devotions · August 3
Reading for August 3
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Nahum 1–3 · John 5
Nahum 1–3 · John 5, Berean Standard Bible
Nahum 1
This is the burden against Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite: 2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and full of wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on His foes and reserves wrath for His enemies. 3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts. 5 The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers. 6 Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him. 7 The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of distress; He cares for those who trust in Him. 8 But with an overwhelming flood He will make an end of Nineveh and pursue His enemies into darkness. 9 Whatever you plot against the LORD, He will bring to an end. Affliction will not rise up a second time. 10 For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry. 11 From you, O Nineveh, comes forth a plotter of evil against the LORD, a counselor of wickedness. 12 This is what the LORD says: “Though they are allied and numerous, yet they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, O Judah, I will afflict you no longer. 13 For I will now break their yoke from your neck and tear away your shackles.” 14 The LORD has issued a command concerning you, O Nineveh: “There will be no descendants to carry on your name. I will cut off the carved image and cast idol from the house of your gods; I will prepare your grave, for you are contemptible.” 15 Look to the mountains—the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked will never again march through you; they will be utterly cut off.
Nahum 2
One who scatters advances against you, O Nineveh. Guard the fortress! Watch the road! Brace yourselves! Summon all your strength! 2 For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and ruined the branches of their vine. 3 The shields of his mighty men are red; the valiant warriors are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariots flash like fire on the day they are prepared, and the spears of cypress have been brandished. 4 The chariots dash through the streets; they rush around the plazas, appearing like torches, darting about like lightning. 5 He summons his nobles; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place. 6 The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses. 7 It is decreed that the city be exiled and carried away; her maidservants moan like doves, and beat upon their breasts. 8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water throughout her days, but now it is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back. 9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing. 10 She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale! 11 Where is the lions’ lair or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs, with nothing to frighten them away? 12 The lion mauled enough for its cubs and strangled prey for the lioness. It filled its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey. 13 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will reduce your chariots to cinders, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
Nahum 3
Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey. 2 The crack of the whip, the rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! 3 Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end—they stumble over their dead— 4 because of the many harlotries of the harlot, the seductive mistress of sorcery, who betrays nations by her prostitution and clans by her witchcraft. 5 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms. 6 I will pelt you with filth and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you. 7 Then all who see you will recoil from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated; who will grieve for her?’ Where can I find comforters for you?” 8 Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water? 9 Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies. 10 Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains. 11 You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy. 12 All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater! 13 Look at your troops—they are like your women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire consumes their bars. 14 Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln! 15 There the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down and consume you like a young locust. Make yourself many like the young locust; make yourself many like the swarming locust! 16 You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away. 17 Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where. 18 O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them. 19 There is no healing for your injury; your wound is severe. All who hear the news of you applaud your downfall, for who has not experienced your constant cruelty?
John 5
Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda. 3 On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. 4 5 One man there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had spent a long time in this condition, He asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me.” 8 Then Jesus told him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.” 9 Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk. Now this happened on the Sabbath day, 10 so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.” 11 But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” 12 “Who is this man who told you to pick it up and walk?” they asked. 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there. 14 Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.” 15 And the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him. 17 But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.” 18 Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. 19 So Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes. 22 Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24 Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life. 25 Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. 27 And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice 29 and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 30 I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 31 If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid. 32 There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that His testimony about Me is valid. 33 You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34 Even though I do not accept human testimony, I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light. 36 But I have testimony more substantial than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works I am doing—testify about Me that the Father has sent Me. 37 And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form, 38 nor does His word abide in you, because you do not believe the One He sent. 39 You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me, 40 yet you refuse to come to Me to have life. 41 I do not accept glory from men, 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you have not received Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope. 46 If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
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.