Daily Devotions · June 30
Reading for June 30
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Amos 7–9 · Psalm 104 · Titus 2
Amos 7–9 · Psalm 104 · Titus 2, Berean Standard Bible
Amos 7
This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up. 2 And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?” 3 So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen,” He said. 4 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. 5 Then I said, “Lord GOD, please stop! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?” 6 So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen either,” said the Lord GOD. 7 This is what He showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand. 8 “Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD. “A plumb line,” I replied. “Behold,” said the Lord, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them: 9 The high places of Isaac will be deserted, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with My sword.” 10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words, 11 for this is what Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’” 12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.” 14 “I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the LORD took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ 16 Now, therefore, hear the word of the LORD. You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ 17 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided by a measuring line, and you yourself will die on pagan soil. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”
Amos 8
This is what the Lord GOD showed me: I saw a basket of summer fruit. 2 “Amos, what do you see?” He asked. “A basket of summer fruit,” I replied. So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.” 3 “In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!” 4 Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land, 5 asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales. 6 Let us buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the chaff with the wheat!” 7 The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their deeds. 8 Will not the land quake for this, and all its dwellers mourn? All of it will swell like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt. 9 And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime. 10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day. 11 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. 12 People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east, seeking the word of the LORD, but they will not find it. 13 In that day the lovely young women—the young men as well—will faint from thirst. 14 Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the way of Beersheba lives’—they will fall, never to rise again.”
Amos 9
I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape. 2 Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down. 3 Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them. 4 Though they are driven by their enemies into captivity, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix My eyes upon them for harm and not for good.” 5 The Lord GOD of Hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all its dwellers mourn—all the land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt— 6 He builds His upper rooms in the heavens and founds His vault upon the earth. He summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth. The LORD is His name. 7 “Are you not like the Cushites to Me, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir? 8 Surely the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” declares the LORD. 9 “For surely I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is sifted in a sieve; but not a pebble will reach the ground. 10 All the sinners among My people will die by the sword—all those who say, ‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’” 11 “In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, 12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear My name,” declares the LORD, who will do this. 13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow. 14 I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God.
Psalm 104
Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty. 2 He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent, 3 laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind. 4 He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants. 5 He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved. 6 You covered it with the deep like a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. 7 At Your rebuke the waters fled; at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away— 8 the mountains rose and the valleys sank to the place You assigned for them— 9 You set a boundary they cannot cross, that they may never again cover the earth. 10 He sends forth springs in the valleys; they flow between the mountains. 11 They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 The birds of the air nest beside the springs; they sing among the branches. 13 He waters the mountains from His chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works. 14 He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth: 15 wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart. 16 The trees of the LORD have their fill, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted, 17 where the birds build their nests; the stork makes her home in the cypresses. 18 The high mountains are for the wild goats, the cliffs a refuge for the rock badgers. 19 He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set. 20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the beasts of the forest prowl. 21 The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. 22 The sun rises, and they withdraw; they lie down in their dens. 23 Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until evening. 24 How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures. 25 Here is the sea, vast and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both great and small. 26 There the ships pass, and Leviathan, which You formed to frolic there. 27 All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season. 28 When You give it to them, they gather it up; when You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good things. 29 When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust. 30 When You send Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth. 31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works. 32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smolder. 33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the LORD. 35 May sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Hallelujah!
Titus 2
But as for you, speak the things that are consistent with sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and perseverance. 3 Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers or addicted to much wine, but teachers of good. 4 In this way they can train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be discredited. 6 In the same way, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything, show yourself to be an example by doing good works. In your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and wholesome speech that is above reproach, so that anyone who opposes us will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us. 9 Slaves are to submit to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not stealing from them, but showing all good faith, so that in every respect they will adorn the teaching about God our Savior. 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone. 12 It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. 14 He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. 15 Speak these things as you encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise 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.