Daily Devotions · March 11
Reading for March 11
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Deuteronomy 16–18 · Psalm 38 · Galatians 2
Deuteronomy 16–18 · Psalm 38 · Galatians 2, Berean Standard Bible
Deuteronomy 16
Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name. 3 You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt. 4 No leaven is to be found in all your land for seven days, and none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day shall remain until morning. 5 You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns that the LORD your God is giving you. 6 You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt. 7 And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents. 8 For six days you must eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day you shall hold a solemn assembly to the LORD your God, and you must not do any work. 9 You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain. 10 And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the LORD your God has blessed you, 11 and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you. 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and carefully follow these statutes. 13 You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you. 15 For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place He will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy will be complete. 16 Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed. 17 Everyone must appear with a gift as he is able, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you. 18 You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. 20 Pursue justice, and justice alone, so that you may live, and you may possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God, 22 and do not set up for yourselves a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.
Deuteronomy 17
You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep with any defect or serious flaw, for that is detestable to the LORD your God. 2 If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His covenant 3 and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden— 4 and if it is reported and you hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report is true and such an abomination has happened in Israel, 5 you must bring out to your gates the man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you must stone that person to death. 6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you. 8 If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will choose. 9 You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Inquire of them, and they will give you a verdict in the case. 10 You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you, 11 according to the terms of law they give and the verdict they proclaim. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from the decision they declare to you. 12 But the man who acts presumptuously, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there to serve the LORD your God, or to the judge, must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel. 13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will no longer behave arrogantly. 14 When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” 15 you are to appoint over yourselves the king whom the LORD your God shall choose. Appoint a king from among your brothers; you are not to set over yourselves a foreigner who is not one of your brothers. 16 But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’ 17 He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold. 18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by carefully observing all the words of this instruction and these statutes. 20 Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, and he will not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or to the left, in order that he and his sons may reign many years over his kingdom in Israel.
Deuteronomy 18
The Levitical priests—indeed the whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the food offerings to the LORD; that is their inheritance. 2 Although they have no inheritance among their brothers, the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised them. 3 This shall be the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether a bull or a sheep: the priests are to be given the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. 4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first wool sheared from your flock. 5 For the LORD your God has chosen Levi and his sons out of all your tribes to stand and minister in His name for all time. 6 Now if a Levite moves from any town of residence throughout Israel and comes in all earnestness to the place the LORD will choose, 7 then he shall serve in the name of the LORD his God like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the LORD. 8 They shall eat equal portions, even though he has received money from the sale of his father’s estate. 9 When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, 11 casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. 12 For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God. 14 Though these nations, which you will dispossess, listen to conjurers and diviners, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him. 16 This is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire anymore, so that we will not die!” 17 Then the LORD said to me, “They have spoken well. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19 And I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name. 20 But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.” 21 You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?” 22 When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
Psalm 38
A Psalm of David, for remembrance. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath. 2 For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me. 3 There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin. 4 For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are a burden too heavy to bear. 5 My wounds are foul and festering because of my sinful folly. 6 I am bent and brought low; all day long I go about mourning. 7 For my loins are full of burning pain, and no soundness remains in my body. 8 I am numb and badly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart. 9 O Lord, my every desire is before You; my groaning is not hidden from You. 10 My heart pounds, my strength fails, and even the light of my eyes has faded. 11 My beloved and friends shun my disease, and my kinsmen stand at a distance. 12 Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long. 13 But like a deaf man, I do not hear; and like a mute man, I do not open my mouth. 14 I am like a man who cannot hear, whose mouth offers no reply. 15 I wait for You, O LORD; You will answer, O Lord my God. 16 For I said, “Let them not gloat over me—those who taunt me when my foot slips.” 17 For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me. 18 Yes, I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin. 19 Many are my enemies without cause, and many hate me without reason. 20 Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good. 21 Do not forsake me, O LORD; be not far from me, O my God. 22 Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior.
Galatians 2
Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, accompanied by Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I spoke privately to those recognized as leaders, for fear that I was running or had already run in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This issue arose because some false brothers had come in under false pretenses to spy on our freedom in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. 6 But as for the highly esteemed—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—those leaders added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. 8 For the One who was at work in Peter’s apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in my apostleship to the Gentiles. 9 And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. 10 They only asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. 11 When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14 When I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?” 15 We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile “sinners” 16 know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 17 But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, does that make Christ a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 If I rebuild what I have already torn down, I prove myself to be a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
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.