Daily Devotions · February 3
Reading for February 3
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Exodus 35–36 · Acts 10
Exodus 35–36 · Acts 10, Berean Standard Bible
Exodus 35
Then Moses assembled the whole congregation of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do: 2 For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on that day must be put to death. 3 Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” 4 Moses also told the whole congregation of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded: 5 Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Let everyone whose heart is willing bring an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair; 7 ram skins dyed red and fine leather; acacia wood; 8 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 9 and onyx stones and gemstones to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. 10 Let every skilled craftsman among you come and make everything that the LORD has commanded: 11 the tabernacle with its tent and covering, its clasps and frames, its crossbars, posts, and bases; 12 the ark with its poles and mercy seat, and the veil to shield it; 13 the table with its poles, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence; 14 the lampstand for light with its accessories and lamps and oil for the light; 15 the altar of incense with its poles; the anointing oil and fragrant incense; the curtain for the doorway at the entrance to the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand; 17 the curtains of the courtyard with its posts and bases, and the curtain for the gate of the courtyard; 18 the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the courtyard, along with their ropes; 19 and the woven garments for ministering in the holy place—both the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests.” 20 Then the whole congregation of Israel withdrew from the presence of Moses. 21 And everyone whose heart stirred him and whose spirit prompted him came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its services, and for the holy garments. 22 So all who had willing hearts, both men and women, came and brought brooches and earrings, rings and necklaces, and all kinds of gold jewelry. And they all presented their gold as a wave offering to the LORD. 23 Everyone who had blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red, or articles of fine leather, brought them. 24 And all who could present an offering of silver or bronze brought it as a contribution to the LORD. Also, everyone who had acacia wood for any part of the service brought it. 25 Every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun: blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen. 26 And all the skilled women whose hearts were stirred spun the goat hair. 27 The leaders brought onyx stones and gemstones to mount on the ephod and breastpiece, 28 as well as spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29 So all the men and women of the Israelites whose hearts prompted them brought a freewill offering to the LORD for all the work that the LORD through Moses had commanded them to do. 30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 31 And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship, 32 to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze, 33 to cut gemstones for settings, and to carve wood, so that he may be a master of every artistic craft. 34 And the LORD has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and as weavers—as artistic designers of every kind of craft.
Exodus 36
“So Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person are to carry out everything commanded by the LORD, who has given them skill and ability to know how to perform all the work of constructing the sanctuary.” 2 Then Moses summoned Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person whom the LORD had gifted—everyone whose heart stirred him to come and do the work. 3 They received from Moses all the contributions that the Israelites had brought to carry out the service of constructing the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning, 4 so that all the skilled craftsmen who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left their work 5 and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD has commanded us to do.” 6 After Moses had given an order, they sent a proclamation throughout the camp: “No man or woman should make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing more, 7 since what they already had was more than enough to perform all the work. 8 All the skilled craftsmen among the workmen made the ten curtains for the tabernacle. They were made of finely spun linen, as well as blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim skillfully worked into them. 9 Each curtain was twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide; all the curtains were the same size. 10 And he joined five of the curtains together, and the other five he joined as well. 11 He made loops of blue material on the edge of the end curtain in the first set, and also on the end curtain in the second set. 12 He made fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the second set, so that the loops lined up opposite one another. 13 He also made fifty gold clasps to join the curtains together, so that the tabernacle was a unit. 14 He then made curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven curtains in all. 15 Each of the eleven curtains was the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide. 16 He joined five of the curtains into one set and the other six into another. 17 He made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in the first set, and fifty loops along the edge of the corresponding curtain in the second set. 18 He also made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together as a unit. 19 Additionally, he made for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of fine leather. 20 Next, he constructed upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. 21 Each frame was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 22 Two tenons were connected to each other for each frame. He made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 23 He constructed twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle, 24 with forty silver bases to put under the twenty frames—two bases for each frame, one under each tenon. 25 For the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty frames 26 and forty silver bases—two bases under each frame. 27 He made six frames for the rear of the tabernacle, the west side, 28 and two frames for the two back corners of the tabernacle, 29 coupled together from bottom to top and fitted into a single ring. He made both corners in this way. 30 So there were eight frames and sixteen silver bases—two under each frame. 31 He also made five crossbars of acacia wood for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five for those on the other side, and five for those on the rear side of the tabernacle, to the west. 33 He made the central crossbar to run through the center of the frames, from one end to the other. 34 And he overlaid the frames with gold and made gold rings to hold the crossbars. He also overlaid the crossbars with gold. 35 Next, he made the veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 36 He also made four posts of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold, along with gold hooks; and he cast four silver bases for the posts. 37 For the entrance to the tent, he made a curtain embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, 38 together with five posts and their hooks. He overlaid the tops of the posts and their bands with gold, and their five bases were bronze.
Acts 10
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was called the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to call for a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among his attendants. 8 He explained what had happened and sent them to Joppa. 9 The next day at about the sixth hour, as the men were approaching the city on their journey, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven open and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, as well as birds of the air. 13 Then a voice said to him: “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” 14 “No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” 15 The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” 16 This happened three times, and all at once the sheet was taken back up into heaven. 17 While Peter was puzzling over the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house and approached the gate. 18 They called out to ask if Simon called Peter was staying there. 19 As Peter continued to reflect on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 So get up! Go downstairs and accompany them without hesitation, because I have sent them.” 21 So Peter went down to the men and said, “Here am I, the one you are looking for. Why have you come?” 22 “Cornelius the centurion has sent us,” they said. “He is a righteous and God-fearing man with a good reputation among the whole Jewish nation. A holy angel instructed him to request your presence in his home so he could hear a message from you.” 23 So Peter invited them in as his guests. And the next day he got ready and went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa. 24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea, where Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter was about to enter, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet to worship him. 26 But Peter helped him up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.” 27 As Peter talked with him, he went inside and found many people gathered together. 28 He said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. 29 So when I was invited, I came without objection. I ask, then, why have you sent for me?” 30 Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this, the ninth hour. Suddenly a man in radiant clothing stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been remembered before God. 32 Therefore send to Joppa for Simon, who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you immediately, and you were kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has instructed you to tell us.” 34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism, 35 but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right. 36 He has sent this message to the people of Israel, proclaiming the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You yourselves know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee with the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him. 39 We are witnesses of all that He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And although they put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, 40 God raised Him up on the third day and caused Him to be seen— 41 not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had chosen beforehand, by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard his message. 45 All the circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and exalting God. Then Peter said, 47 “Can anyone withhold the water to baptize these people? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have!” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.
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.