Daily Devotions · January 17
Reading for January 17
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Genesis 42–43 · Psalm 5 · Luke 17
Genesis 42–43 · Psalm 5 · Luke 17, Berean Standard Bible
Genesis 42
When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” 2 “Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.” 3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.” 5 So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan. 6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground. 7 And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.” 8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9 Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” 10 “Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.” 12 “No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” 13 But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.” 14 Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies! 15 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 17 So Joseph imprisoned them for three days, 18 and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live: 19 If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households. 20 Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented. 21 Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!” 23 They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them. 24 And he turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes. 25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out, 26 and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed. 27 At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack. 28 “My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers. “It is here in my sack.” Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?” 29 When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them: 30 “The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country. 31 But we told him, ‘We are honest men, not spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33 Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go. 34 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’” 35 As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed. 36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!” 37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.” 38 But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
Genesis 43
Now the famine was still severe in the land. 2 So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.” 3 But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’” 6 “Why did you bring this trouble upon me?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man you had another brother?” 7 They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?” 8 And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children. 9 I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life. 10 If we had not delayed, we could have come and gone twice by now.” 11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. 12 Take double the silver with you so that you may return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. 13 Take your brother as well, and return to the man at once. 14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.” 15 So the men took these gifts, along with double the amount of silver, and Benjamin as well. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.” 17 The man did as Joseph had commanded and took the brothers to Joseph’s house. 18 But the brothers were frightened that they had been taken to Joseph’s house. “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time,” they said. “They intend to overpower us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.” 19 So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 20 “Please, sir,” they said, “we really did come down here the first time to buy food. 21 But when we came to the place we lodged for the night, we opened our sacks and, behold, each of us found his silver in the mouth of his sack! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us. 22 We have brought additional silver with us to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.” 23 “It is fine,” said the steward. “Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, gave you the treasure that was in your sacks. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 And the steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet, and provided food for their donkeys. 25 Since the brothers had been told that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon. 26 When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought, and they bowed to the ground before him. 27 He asked if they were well, and then he asked, “How is your elderly father you told me about? Is he still alive?” 28 “Your servant our father is well,” they answered. “He is still alive.” And they bowed down to honor him. 29 When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Joseph hurried out because he was moved to tears for his brother, and he went to a private room to weep. 31 Then he washed his face and came back out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.” 32 They separately served Joseph, his brothers, and the Egyptians. They ate separately because the Egyptians would not eat with the Hebrews, since that was detestable to them. 33 They were seated before Joseph in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at one another in astonishment. 34 When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.
Psalm 5
For the choirmaster, to be accompanied by flutes. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. 2 Attend to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to You I pray. 3 In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice; at daybreak I lay my plea before You and wait in expectation. 4 For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You. 5 The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all workers of iniquity. 6 You destroy those who tell lies; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit. 7 But I will enter Your house by the abundance of Your loving devotion; in reverence I will bow down toward Your holy temple. 8 Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make straight Your way before me. 9 For not a word they speak can be trusted; destruction lies within them. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. 10 Declare them guilty, O God; let them fall by their own devices. Drive them out for their many transgressions, for they have rebelled against You. 11 But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them ever shout for joy. May You shelter them, that those who love Your name may rejoice in You. 12 For surely You, O LORD, bless the righteous; You surround them with the shield of Your favor.
Luke 17
Jesus said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord answered, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. 7 Which of you whose servant comes in from plowing or shepherding in the field will say to him, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8 Instead, won’t he tell him, ‘Prepare my meal and dress yourself to serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you may eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what he was told? 10 So you also, when you have done everything commanded of you, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” 11 While Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers. They stood at a distance 13 and raised their voices, shouting, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were on their way, they were cleansed. 15 When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He fell facedown at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving to Him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 “Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine? 18 Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?” 19 Then Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well!” 20 When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs. 21 Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” 22 Then He said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘Look, there He is!’ or ‘Look, here He is!’ Do not go out or chase after them. 24 For just as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will be the Son of Man in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man: 27 People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed: one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together: one will be taken and the other left.” 36 37 “Where, Lord?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”
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.
-
Scripture
Write out the verse that stood out to you.
-
Observation
What is it saying? Who is speaking, and to whom?
-
Application
What does it mean for your life today? Be specific.
-
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.