Daily Devotions · July 27
Reading for July 27
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Isaiah 50–52 · Psalm 92 · 2 Peter 1
Isaiah 50–52 · Psalm 92 · 2 Peter 1, Berean Standard Bible
Isaiah 50
This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away. 2 Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea; I turn the rivers into a desert; the fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst. 3 I clothe the heavens in black and make sackcloth their covering.” 4 The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. 5 The Lord GOD has opened My ears, and I have not been rebellious, nor have I turned back. 6 I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle. 7 Because the Lord GOD helps Me, I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set My face like flint, and I know that I will not be put to shame. 8 The One who vindicates Me is near. Who will dare to contend with Me? Let us confront each other! Who has a case against Me? Let him approach Me! 9 Surely the Lord GOD helps Me. Who is there to condemn Me? See, they will all wear out like a garment; the moths will devour them. 10 Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD; let him lean on his God. 11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who array yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and of the firebrands you have lit! This is what you will receive from My hand: You will lie down in a place of torment.
Isaiah 51
“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut, and to the quarry from which you were hewn. 2 Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him. 3 For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song. 4 Pay attention to Me, My people, and listen to Me, My nation; for a law will go out from Me, and My justice will become a light to the nations; I will bring it about quickly. 5 My righteousness draws near, My salvation is on the way, and My arms will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look for Me and wait in hope for My arm. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like gnats. But My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never fail. 7 Listen to Me, you who know what is right, you people with My law in your hearts: Do not fear the scorn of men; do not be broken by their insults. 8 For the moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will last forever, My salvation through all generations.” 9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon? 10 Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea for the redeemed to cross over? 11 So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee. 12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass? 13 But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor? 14 The captive will soon be freed; he will not die in the dungeon, and his bread will not be lacking. 15 For I am the LORD your God who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of Hosts is His name. 16 I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’” 17 Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger. 18 Among all the sons she bore, there is no one to guide her; among all the sons she brought up, there is no one to take her hand. 19 These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you? 20 Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God. 21 Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one, drunken, but not with wine. 22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again. 23 I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to be traversed.”
Isaiah 52
Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you. 2 Shake off your dust! Rise up and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem. Remove the chains from your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion. 3 For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed.” 4 For this is what the Lord GOD says: “At first My people went down to Egypt to live, then Assyria oppressed them without cause. 5 And now what have I here? declares the LORD. For My people have been taken without cause; those who rule them taunt, declares the LORD, and My name is blasphemed continually all day long. 6 Therefore My people will know My name; therefore they will know on that day that I am He who speaks. Here I am!” 7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, together they shout for joy. For every eye will see when the LORD returns to Zion. 9 Break forth in joy, sing together, O ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted His people; He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. 11 Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD. 12 For you will not leave in a hurry nor flee in haste, for the LORD goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rear guard. 13 Behold, My Servant will prosper; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 14 Just as many were appalled at Him—His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man, and His form was marred beyond human likeness— 15 so He will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For they will see what they have not been told, and they will understand what they have not heard.
Psalm 92
A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. It is good to praise the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High, 2 to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning and Your faithfulness at night 3 with the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre. 4 For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your deeds; I sing for joy at the works of Your hands. 5 How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts! 6 A senseless man does not know, and a fool does not understand, 7 that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed. 8 But You, O LORD, are exalted forever! 9 For surely Your enemies, O LORD, surely Your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. 10 But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; with fine oil I have been anointed. 11 My eyes see the downfall of my enemies; my ears hear the wailing of my wicked foes. 12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. 14 In old age they will still bear fruit; healthy and green they will remain, 15 to proclaim, “The LORD is upright; He is my Rock, and in Him there is no unrighteousness.”
2 Peter 1
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a lavish reception into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12 Therefore I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body, 14 because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to ensure that after my departure, you will be able to recall these things at all times. 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation. 21 For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
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.