Daily Devotions · July 10
Reading for July 10
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Micah 5–7 · Hebrews 7
Micah 5–7 · Hebrews 7, Berean Standard Bible
Micah 5
Now, O daughter of troops, mobilize your troops; for a siege is laid against us! With a rod they will strike the cheek of the judge of Israel. 2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity. 3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of His brothers will return to the children of Israel. 4 He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD His God. And they will dwell securely, for then His greatness will extend to the ends of the earth. 5 And He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land and tramples our citadels. We will raise against it seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men. 6 And they will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with the blade drawn. So He will deliver us when Assyria invades our land and marches into our borders. 7 Then the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for man or linger for mankind. 8 Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which tramples and tears as it passes through, with no one to rescue them. 9 Your hand will be lifted over your foes, and all your enemies will be cut off. 10 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will remove your horses from among you and wreck your chariots. 11 I will remove the cities of your land and tear down all your strongholds. 12 I will cut the sorceries from your hand, and you will have no fortune-tellers. 13 I will also cut off the carved images and sacred pillars from among you, so that you will no longer bow down to the work of your own hands. 14 I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst and demolish your cities. 15 I will take vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations that have not obeyed Me.”
Micah 6
Hear now what the LORD says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 2 Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel: 3 ‘My people, what have I done to you? Testify against Me how I have wearied you! 4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses before you, as well as Aaron and Miriam. 5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’” 6 With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? 7 Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? 9 The voice of the LORD calls out to the city (and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name): “Heed the rod and the One who ordained it. 10 Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness and the short ephah, which is accursed? 11 Can I excuse dishonest scales or bags of false weights? 12 For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths. 13 Therefore I am striking you severely, to ruin you because of your sins. 14 You will eat but not be satisfied, and your hunger will remain with you. What you acquire, you will not preserve; and what you save, I will give to the sword. 15 You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine. 16 You have kept the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their counsel. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of contempt; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”
Micah 7
Woe is me! For I am like one gathering summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that I crave. 2 The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net. 3 Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together. 4 The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation. Now is the time of their confusion. 5 Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms. 6 For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household. 7 But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. 8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. 9 Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness. 10 Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame—she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like mud in the streets. 11 The day for rebuilding your walls will come—the day for extending your boundary. 12 On that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates, from sea to sea and mountain to mountain. 13 Then the earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the fruit of their deeds. 14 Shepherd with Your staff Your people, the flock of Your inheritance. They live alone in a woodland, surrounded by pastures. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. 15 As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show My wonders. 16 Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf. 17 They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will come trembling from their strongholds in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of You. 18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion? 19 He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea. 20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from the days of old.
Hebrews 7
This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness.” Then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3 Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time. 4 Consider how great Melchizedek was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder. 5 Now the law commands the sons of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers—though they too are descended from Abraham. 6 But Melchizedek, who did not trace his descent from Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 And indisputably, the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8 In the case of the Levites, mortal men collect the tenth; but in the case of Melchizedek, it is affirmed that he lives on. 9 And so to speak, Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham. 10 For when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the loin of his ancestor. 11 Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on this basis the people received the law), why was there still need for another priest to appear—one in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well. 13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And this point is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not by a law of succession, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is testified: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” 18 So the former commandment is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. 20 And none of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath, 21 but Jesus became a priest with an oath by the One who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’” 22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. 23 Now there have been many other priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office. 24 But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them. 26 Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
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.
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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.