Daily Devotions · July 14
Reading for July 14
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Isaiah 19–21 · Hebrews 11
Isaiah 19–21 · Hebrews 11, Berean Standard Bible
Isaiah 19
This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them. 2 “So I will incite Egyptian against Egyptian; brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. 3 Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists. 4 I will deliver the Egyptians into the hands of a harsh master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts. 5 The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty. 6 The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither. 7 The bulrushes by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the fields sown along the Nile, will wither, blow away, and be no more. 8 Then the fishermen will mourn, all who cast a hook into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the waters will pine away. 9 The workers in flax will be dismayed, and the weavers of fine linen will turn pale. 10 The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the hired workers will be sick at heart. 11 The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”? 12 Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray. 14 The LORD has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit. 15 There is nothing Egypt can do—head or tail, palm or reed. 16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them. 17 The land of Judah will bring terror to Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble over what the LORD of Hosts has planned against it. 18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of Hosts. One of them will be called the City of the Sun. 19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the center of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near her border. 20 It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender to rescue them. 21 The LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and on that day Egypt will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and fulfill them. 22 And the LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and He will hear their prayers and heal them. 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24 In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing upon the earth. 25 The LORD of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”
Isaiah 20
Before the year that the chief commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it, 2 the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet.” And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot. 3 Then the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush, 4 so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame. 5 Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed. 6 And on that day the dwellers of this coastland will say, ‘See what has happened to our source of hope, those to whom we fled for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’”
Isaiah 21
This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. 2 A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.” 3 Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see. 4 My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight I desired has turned to horror. 5 They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields! 6 For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. 7 When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert.” 8 Then the lookout shouted: “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post. 9 Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!” 10 O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel. 11 This is the burden against Dumah: One calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?” 12 The watchman replies, “Morning has come, but also the night. If you would inquire, then inquire. Come back yet again.” 13 This is the burden against Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge, O caravans of Dedanites. 14 Bring water for the thirsty, O dwellers of Tema; meet the refugees with food. 15 For they flee from the sword—the sword that is drawn—from the bow that is bent, and from the stress of battle. 16 For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone. 17 The remaining archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” For the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.
Hebrews 11
Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see. 2 This is why the ancients were commended. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God. For anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. 7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised. 12 And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 13 All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 Now those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his bones. 23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were unafraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin. 26 He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch Israel’s own firstborn. 29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. 31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient. 32 And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated. 38 The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. 40 God had planned something better for us, so that together with us they would be made perfect.
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.