Daily Devotions · June 2
Reading for June 2
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Proverbs 22–24 · Romans 14
Proverbs 22–24 · Romans 14, Berean Standard Bible
Proverbs 22
A good name is more desirable than great riches; favor is better than silver and gold. 2 The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is Maker of them all. 3 The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and suffer the consequences. 4 The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life. 5 Thorns and snares lie on the path of the perverse; he who guards his soul stays far from them. 6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. 7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. 8 He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed. 9 A generous man will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. 10 Drive out the mocker, and conflict will depart; even quarreling and insults will cease. 11 He who loves a pure heart and gracious lips will have the king for a friend. 12 The LORD’s eyes keep watch over knowledge, but He frustrates the words of the faithless. 13 The slacker says, “There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!” 14 The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it. 15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. 16 Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty. 17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise—apply your mind to my knowledge— 18 for it is pleasing when you keep them within you and they are constantly on your lips. 19 So that your trust may be in the LORD, I instruct you today—yes, you. 20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge, 21 to show you true and reliable words, that you may soundly answer those who sent you? 22 Do not rob a poor man because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate, 23 for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them. 24 Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man, 25 or you may learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. 26 Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts. 27 If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you? 28 Do not move an ancient boundary stone which your fathers have placed. 29 Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will be stationed in the presence of kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
Proverbs 23
When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you, 2 and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite. 3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive. 4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself. 5 When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky. 6 Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies; 7 for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. 8 You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words. 9 Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words. 10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, 11 for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you. 12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge. 13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die. 14 Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol. 15 My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice. 16 My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. 17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD. 18 For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. 19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course. 20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat. 21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags. 22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. 23 Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding. 24 The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him. 25 May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice! 26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways. 27 For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well. 28 Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men. 29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes? 30 Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks. 31 Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. 32 In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper. 33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities. 34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast: 35 “They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?”
Proverbs 24
Do not envy wicked men or desire their company; 2 for their hearts devise violence, and their lips declare trouble. 3 By wisdom a house is built and by understanding it is established; 4 through knowledge its rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure. 5 A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge enhances his strength. 6 Only with sound guidance should you wage war, and victory lies in a multitude of counselors. 7 Wisdom is too high for a fool; he does not open his mouth in the meeting place. 8 He who plots evil will be called a schemer. 9 A foolish scheme is sin, and a mocker is detestable to men. 10 If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength! 11 Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter. 12 If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds? 13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your taste. 14 Know therefore that wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, there is a future for you, and your hope will never be cut off. 15 Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, near the dwelling of the righteous; do not destroy his resting place. 16 For though a righteous man may fall seven times, he still gets up; but the wicked stumble in bad times. 17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, 18 or the LORD will see and disapprove, and turn His wrath away from him. 19 Do not fret over evildoers, and do not be envious of the wicked. 20 For the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished. 21 My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious. 22 For they will bring sudden destruction. Who knows what ruin they can bring? 23 These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good. 24 Whoever tells the guilty, “You are innocent”—peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him; 25 but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come upon them. 26 An honest answer given is like a kiss on the lips. 27 Complete your outdoor work and prepare your field; after that, you may build your house. 28 Do not testify against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. 29 Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will repay the man according to his work.” 30 I went past the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment. 31 Thorns had grown up everywhere, thistles had covered the ground, and the stone wall was broken down. 32 I observed and took it to heart; I looked and received instruction: 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
Romans 14
Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions. 2 For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes a special day does so to the Lord; he who eats does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.” 12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. 14 I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15 If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died. 16 Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. 19 So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble. 22 Keep your belief about such matters between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But the one who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that is not from faith is sin.
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.
-
Scripture
Write out the verse that stood out to you.
-
Observation
What is it saying? Who is speaking, and to whom?
-
Application
What does it mean for your life today? Be specific.
-
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.