Daily Devotions · June 12
Reading for June 12
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
1 Kings 12 · 2 Chronicles 10–11 · Philippians 2
1 Kings 12 · 2 Chronicles 10–11 · Philippians 2, Berean Standard Bible
1 Kings 12
Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about this, he was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel came to Rehoboam and said, 4 “Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you must lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5 Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then return to me.” So the people departed. 6 Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked. 7 They replied, “If you will be a servant to these people and serve them this day, and if you will respond by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.” 8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him. 9 He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to these people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?” 10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must make it lighter.’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! 11 Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’” 12 After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.” 13 And the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the elders 14 and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word He had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. 16 When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home, 17 but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent out Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem. 19 So to this day Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David. 20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. 21 And when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against the house of Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 23 “Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people 24 that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for this is My doing.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and turned back according to the word of the LORD. 25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And from there he went out and built Penuel. 26 Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom might revert to the house of David. 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, their hearts will return to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah; then they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” 29 One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin; the people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves. 31 Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites. 32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had set up, and he installed priests in Bethel for the high places he had set up. 33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar he had set up in Bethel. So he ordained a feast for the Israelites, offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense.
2 Chronicles 10
Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about this, he returned from Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel came to Rehoboam and said, 4 “Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you must lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5 Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days.” So the people departed. 6 Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked. 7 They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and please them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.” 8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him. 9 He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to these people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?” 10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must make it lighter.’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! 11 Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’” 12 After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.” 13 And the king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders 14 and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from God, in order that the LORD might fulfill the word that He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. 16 When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So all the Israelites went home, 17 but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent out Hadoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem. 19 So to this day Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David.
2 Chronicles 11
When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the house of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God: 3 “Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin 4 that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers. Each of you must return home, for this is My doing.’” So they listened to the words of the LORD and turned back from going against Jeroboam. 5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built up cities for defense in Judah. 6 He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. 11 He strengthened their fortifications and put officers in them, with supplies of food, oil, and wine. 12 He also put shields and spears in all the cities and strengthened them greatly. So Judah and Benjamin belonged to him. 13 Moreover, the priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel stood with Rehoboam. 14 For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD. 15 And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made. 16 Those from every tribe of Israel who had set their hearts to seek the LORD their God followed the Levites to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers. 17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years, because they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon. 18 And Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. 19 She bore sons to him: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 After her, he married Maacah daughter of Absalom, and she bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. 22 Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, intending to make him king. 23 Rehoboam also acted wisely by dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and sought many wives for them.
Philippians 2
Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose. 14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world 16 as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. 19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I learn how you are doing. 20 I have nobody else like him who will genuinely care for your needs. 21 For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy’s proven worth, that as a child with his father he has served with me to advance the gospel. 23 So I hope to send him as soon as I see what happens with me. 24 And I trust in the Lord that I myself will come soon. 25 But I thought it necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my needs. 26 For he has been longing for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. 27 He was sick indeed, nearly unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less anxious. 29 Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, 30 because he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for your deficit of service to me.
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.