Daily Devotions · July 16
Reading for July 16
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Isaiah 25–28 · Hebrews 13
Isaiah 25–28 · Hebrews 13, Berean Standard Bible
Isaiah 25
O LORD, You are my God! I will exalt You; I will praise Your name. For You have worked wonders—plans formed long ago—in perfect faithfulness. 2 Indeed, You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin. The fortress of strangers is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. 3 Therefore, a strong people will honor You. The cities of ruthless nations will revere You. 4 For You have been a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like rain against a wall, 5 like heat in a dry land. You subdue the uproar of foreigners. As the shade of a cloud cools the heat, so the song of the ruthless is silenced. 6 On this mountain the LORD of Hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all the peoples, a feast of aged wine, of choice meat, of finely aged wine. 7 On this mountain He will swallow up the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken. 9 And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” 10 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trodden into the dung pile. 11 He will spread out his hands within it, as a swimmer spreads his arms to swim. His pride will be brought low, despite the skill of his hands. 12 The high-walled fortress will be brought down, cast to the ground, into the dust.
Isaiah 26
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts. 2 Open the gates so a righteous nation may enter—one that remains faithful. 3 You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You. 4 Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal. 5 For He has humbled those who dwell on high; He lays the lofty city low. He brings it down to the ground; He casts it into the dust. 6 Feet trample it down—the feet of the oppressed, the steps of the poor. 7 The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the upright. 8 Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls. 9 My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. 10 Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD. 11 O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them! 12 O LORD, You will establish peace for us. For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us. 13 O LORD our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but Your name alone do we confess. 14 The dead will not live; the departed spirits will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them. 15 You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land. 16 O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer. 17 As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD. 18 We were with child; we writhed in pain; but we gave birth to wind. We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world. 19 Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead. 20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed. 21 For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
Isaiah 27
In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea. 2 In that day: “Sing about a fruitful vineyard. 3 I, the LORD, am its keeper; I water it continually. I guard it night and day so no one can disturb it; 4 I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground. 5 Or let them lay claim to My protection; let them make peace with Me—yes, let them make peace with Me.” 6 In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit. 7 Has the LORD struck Israel as He struck her oppressors? Was she killed like those who slayed her? 8 By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows. 9 Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing. 10 For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare. 11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor. 12 In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one. 13 And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 28
Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine. 2 Behold, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty. Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest, like a driving rain or flooding downpour, he will smash that crown to the ground. 3 The majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot. 4 The fading flower of his beautiful splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest: Whoever sees it will take it in his hand and swallow it. 5 On that day the LORD of Hosts will be a crown of glory, a diadem of splendor to the remnant of His people, 6 a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate. 7 These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments. 8 For all their tables are covered with vomit; there is not a place without filth. 9 Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast? 10 For they hear: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.” 11 Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people 12 to whom He has said: “This is the place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.” But they would not listen. 13 Then the word of the LORD to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and will be injured, ensnared, and captured. 14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. 15 For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.” 16 So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken. 17 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place. 18 Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it. 19 As often as it passes through, it will carry you away; it will sweep through morning after morning, by day and by night.” The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror. 20 Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket too small to wrap around you. 21 For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task. 22 So now, do not mock, or your shackles will become heavier. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a decree of destruction against the whole land. 23 Listen and hear my voice. Pay attention and hear what I say. 24 Does the plowman plow for planting every day? Does he continuously loosen and harrow the soil? 25 When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots, and rye within its border. 26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly. 27 Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge, and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin. But caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod. 28 Grain for bread must be ground, but it is not endlessly threshed. Though the wheels of the cart roll over it, the horses do not crush it. 29 This also comes from the LORD of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.
Hebrews 13
Continue in brotherly love. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison as if you were bound with them, and those who are mistreated as if you were suffering with them. 4 Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” 7 Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve at the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 Although the high priest brings the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate, to sanctify the people by His own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore. 14 For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. 15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name. 16 And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account. To this end, allow them to lead with joy and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you. 18 Pray for us; we are convinced that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. 19 And I especially urge you to pray that I may be restored to you soon. 20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 22 I urge you, brothers, to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have only written to you briefly. 23 Be aware that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with all of you.
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.