Daily Devotions · January 25
Reading for January 25
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Exodus 12–13 · Psalm 21 · Acts 1
Exodus 12–13 · Psalm 21 · Acts 1, Berean Standard Bible
Exodus 12
Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household. 4 If the household is too small for a whole lamb, they are to share with the nearest neighbor based on the number of people, and apportion the lamb accordingly. 5 Your lamb must be an unblemished year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats. 6 You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. 7 They are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of the meat raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over the fire—its head and legs and inner parts. 10 Do not leave any of it until morning; before the morning you must burn up any part that is left over. 11 This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover. 12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13 The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a sign; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come. 15 For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals—that is all you may do. 17 So you are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must keep this day as a permanent statute for the generations to come. 18 In the first month you are to eat unleavened bread, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days there must be no leaven found in your houses. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreigner or native of the land, must be cut off from the congregation of Israel. 20 You are not to eat anything leavened; eat unleavened bread in all your homes.” 21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go at once and select for yourselves a lamb for each family, and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin, and brush the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. 23 When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. 24 And you are to keep this command as a permanent statute for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as He promised, you are to keep this service. 26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’ 27 you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28 And the Israelites went and did just what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron. 29 Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock. 30 During the night Pharaoh got up—he and all his officials and all the Egyptians—and there was loud wailing in Egypt; for there was no house without someone dead. 31 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds as well, just as you have said, and depart! And bless me also.” 33 And in order to send them out of the land quickly, the Egyptians urged the people on. “For otherwise,” they said, “we are all going to die!” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, carrying it on their shoulders in kneading bowls wrapped in clothing. 35 Furthermore, the Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, and for clothing. 36 And the LORD gave the people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that they granted their request. In this way they plundered the Egyptians. 37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth with about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children. 38 And a mixed multitude also went up with them, along with great droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 Since their dough had no leaven, the people baked what they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves. For when they had been driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared any provisions for themselves. 40 Now the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD’s divisions went out of the land of Egypt. 42 Because the LORD kept a vigil that night to bring them out of the land of Egypt, this same night is to be a vigil to the LORD, to be observed by all the Israelites for the generations to come. 43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: No foreigner is to eat of it. 44 But any slave who has been purchased may eat of it, after you have circumcised him. 45 A temporary resident or hired hand shall not eat the Passover. 46 It must be eaten inside one house. You are not to take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of the bones. 47 The whole congregation of Israel must celebrate it. 48 If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, all the males in the household must be circumcised; then he may come near to celebrate it, and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised man may eat of it. 49 The same law shall apply to both the native and the foreigner who resides among you.” 50 Then all the Israelites did this—they did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the LORD brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.
Exodus 13
Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.” 3 So Moses told the people, “Remember this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; for the LORD brought you out of it by the strength of His hand. And nothing leavened shall be eaten. 4 Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving. 5 And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites—the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you shall keep this service in this month. 6 For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten during those seven days. Nothing leavened may be found among you, nor shall leaven be found anywhere within your borders. 8 And on that day you are to explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt. 10 Therefore you shall keep this statute at the appointed time year after year. 11 And after the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as He swore to you and your fathers, 12 you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD. 13 You must redeem every firstborn donkey with a lamb, and if you do not redeem it, you are to break its neck. And every firstborn of your sons you must redeem. 14 In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 15 And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of man and beast. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb, but I redeem all the firstborn of my sons.’ 16 So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead, for with a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.” 17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was shorter. For God said, “If the people face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt arrayed for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear a solemn oath when he said, “God will surely attend to you, and then you must carry my bones with you from this place.” 20 They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place before the people.
Psalm 21
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, the king rejoices in Your strength. How greatly he exults in Your salvation! 2 You have granted his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah 3 For You welcomed him with rich blessings; You placed on his head a crown of pure gold. 4 He asked You for life, and You granted it—length of days, forever and ever. 5 Great is his glory in Your salvation; You bestow on him splendor and majesty. 6 For You grant him blessings forever; You cheer him with joy in Your presence. 7 For the king trusts in the LORD; through the loving devotion of the Most High, he will not be shaken. 8 Your hand will apprehend all Your enemies; Your right hand will seize those who hate You. 9 You will place them in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, and the fire will consume them. 10 You will wipe their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from the sons of men. 11 Though they intend You harm, the schemes they devise will not prevail. 12 For You will put them to flight when Your bow is trained upon them. 13 Be exalted, O LORD, in Your strength; we will sing and praise Your power.
Acts 1
In my first book, O Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach, 2 until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. 3 After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 And while they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 So when they came together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.” 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near the city, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 With one accord they all continued in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. 15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (a gathering of about a hundred and twenty) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in this ministry.” 18 (Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong and burst open in the middle, and all his intestines spilled out. 19 This became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so they called that field in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘May another take his position.’ 21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” 23 So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 And they prayed, “Lord, You know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen 25 to take up this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned to go to his rightful place.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias. So he was added to the eleven apostles.
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
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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.