Daily Devotions · July 31
Reading for July 31
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Isaiah 63–64 · Psalm 107 · John 2
Isaiah 63–64 · Psalm 107 · John 2, Berean Standard Bible
Isaiah 63
Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.” 2 Why are Your clothes red, and Your garments like one who treads the winepress? 3 “I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained. 4 For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redemption had come. 5 I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled that no one assisted. So My arm brought Me salvation, and My own wrath upheld Me. 6 I trampled the nations in My anger; in My wrath I made them drunk and poured out their blood on the ground.” 7 I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion and His praiseworthy acts, because of all that the LORD has done for us—the many good things for the house of Israel according to His great compassion and loving devotion. 8 For He said, “They are surely My people, sons who will not be disloyal.” So He became their Savior. 9 In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. 10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them. 11 Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them, 12 who sent His glorious arm to lead them by the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to gain for Himself everlasting renown, 13 who led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble? 14 Like cattle going down to the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. You led Your people this way to make for Yourself a glorious name. 15 Look down from heaven and see, from Your holy and glorious habitation. Where are Your zeal and might? Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained. 16 Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name. 17 Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage. 18 For a short while Your people possessed Your holy place, but our enemies have trampled Your sanctuary. 19 We have become like those You never ruled, like those not called by Your name.
Isaiah 64
If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence, 2 as fire kindles the brushwood and causes the water to boil, to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that the nations will tremble at Your presence! 3 When You did awesome works that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence. 4 From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. 5 You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? 6 Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind. 7 No one calls on Your name or strives to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. 8 But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand. 9 Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure; do not remember our iniquity forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray; we are all Your people! 10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation. 11 Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins. 12 After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
Psalm 107
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy 3 and gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. 4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no path to a city in which to dwell. 5 They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them. 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. 7 He led them on a straight path to reach a city where they could live. 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. 9 For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. 10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and chains, 11 because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. 12 He humbled their hearts with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. 13 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke away their chains. 15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. 16 For He has broken down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron. 17 Fools, in their rebellious ways, and through their iniquities, suffered affliction. 18 They loathed all food and drew near to the gates of death. 19 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress. 20 He sent forth His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit. 21 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. 22 Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing. 23 Others went out to sea in ships, conducting trade on the mighty waters. 24 They saw the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep. 25 For He spoke and raised a tempest that lifted the waves of the sea. 26 They mounted up to the heavens, then sunk to the depths; their courage melted in their anguish. 27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards, and all their skill was useless. 28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress. 29 He calmed the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 They rejoiced in the silence, and He guided them to the harbor they desired. 31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. 32 Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people and praise Him in the council of the elders. 33 He turns rivers into deserts, springs of water into thirsty ground, 34 and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers. 35 He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs. 36 He causes the hungry to settle there, that they may establish a city in which to dwell. 37 They sow fields and plant vineyards that yield a fruitful harvest. 38 He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their herds diminish. 39 When they are decreased and humbled by oppression, evil, and sorrow, 40 He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland. 41 But He lifts the needy from affliction and increases their families like flocks. 42 The upright see and rejoice, and all iniquity shuts its mouth. 43 Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.
John 2
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to Him, “They have no more wine.” 4 “Woman, what is that to you and to Me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” 6 Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each could hold from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. 8 “Now draw some out,” He said, “and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not know where it was from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone serves the fine wine first, and then the cheap wine after the guests are drunk. But you have saved the fine wine until now!” 11 Jesus performed this, the first of His signs, at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. 12 After this, He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples, and they stayed there a few days. 13 When the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables. 15 So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.” 18 On account of this, the Jews demanded, “What sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do these things?” 19 Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20 “This temple took forty-six years to build,” the Jews replied, “and You are going to raise it up in three days?” 21 But Jesus was speaking about the temple of His body. 22 After He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. 23 While He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the signs He was doing and believed in His name. 24 But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew them all. 25 He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.
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.