Daily Devotions · March 6
Reading for March 6
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Deuteronomy 3–4 · Psalm 36 · Mark 13
Deuteronomy 3–4 · Psalm 36 · Mark 13, Berean Standard Bible
Deuteronomy 3
Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 2 But the LORD said to me, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” 3 So the LORD our God also delivered Og king of Bashan and his whole army into our hands. We struck them down until no survivor was left. 4 At that time we captured all sixty of his cities. There was not a single city we failed to take—the entire region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these cities were fortified with high walls and gates and bars, and there were many more unwalled villages. 6 We devoted them to destruction, as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city. 7 But all the livestock and plunder of the cities we carried off for ourselves. 8 At that time we took from the two kings of the Amorites the land across the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Hermon— 9 which the Sidonians call Sirion but the Amorites call Senir— 10 all the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead, and all of Bashan as far as the cities of Salecah and Edrei in the kingdom of Og. 11 (For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.) 12 So at that time we took possession of this land. To the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the land beyond Aroer along the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead, along with its cities. 13 To the half-tribe of Manasseh I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og. (The entire region of Argob, the whole territory of Bashan, used to be called the land of the Rephaim.) 14 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. He renamed Bashan after himself, Havvoth-jair, by which it is called to this day. 15 To Machir I gave Gilead, 16 and to the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead to the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley was the border) and up to the Jabbok River, the border of the Ammonites. 17 The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east. 18 At that time I commanded you: “The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor are to cross over, armed for battle, ahead of your brothers, the Israelites. 19 But your wives, your children, and your livestock—I know that you have much livestock—may remain in the cities I have given you, 20 until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as He has to you, and they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them across the Jordan. Then each of you may return to the possession I have given you.” 21 And at that time I commanded Joshua: “Your own eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. The LORD will do the same to all the kingdoms you are about to enter. 22 Do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God Himself will fight for you.” 23 At that time I also pleaded with the LORD: 24 “O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your greatness and power to Your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can perform such works and mighty acts as Yours? 25 Please let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that pleasant hill country as well as Lebanon!” 26 But the LORD was angry with me on account of you, and He would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said to me. “Do not speak to Me again about this matter. 27 Go to the top of Pisgah and look to the west and north and south and east. See the land with your own eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan. 28 But commission Joshua, encourage him, and strengthen him, for he will cross over ahead of the people and enable them to inherit the land that you will see.” 29 So we stayed in the valley opposite Beth-peor.
Deuteronomy 4
Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive to this day, every one of you. 5 See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land that you are about to enter and possess. 6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 7 For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him? 8 And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today? 9 Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren. 10 The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, “Gather the people before Me to hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach them to their children.” 11 You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. 12 And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13 He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to follow—the Ten Commandments that He wrote on two tablets of stone. 14 At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. 15 So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful 16 that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female, 17 of any beast that is on the earth or bird that flies in the air, 18 or of any creature that crawls on the ground or fish that is in the waters below. 19 When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 20 Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today. 21 The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 For I will not be crossing the Jordan, because I must die in this land. But you shall cross over and take possession of that good land. 23 Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you. 24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 25 After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form—doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger— 26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. 28 And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. 29 But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath. 32 Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported? 33 Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived? 34 Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes? 35 You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him. 36 He let you hear His voice from heaven to discipline you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the fire. 37 Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power, 38 to drive out before you nations greater and mightier than you, and to bring you into their land and give it to you for your inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40 Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time. 41 Then Moses set aside three cities across the Jordan to the east 42 to which a manslayer could flee after killing his neighbor unintentionally without prior malice. To save one’s own life, he could flee to one of these cities: 43 Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, or Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites. 44 This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. 45 These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt, 46 while they were in the valley across the Jordan facing Beth-peor in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt. 47 They took possession of the land belonging to Sihon and to Og king of Bashan—the two Amorite kings across the Jordan to the east— 48 extending from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon), 49 including all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan and as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.
Psalm 36
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD. An oracle is in my heart regarding the transgression of the wicked man: There is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin. 3 The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and well-doing. 4 Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil. 5 Your loving devotion, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds. 6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains; Your judgments are like the deepest sea. O LORD, You preserve man and beast. 7 How precious is Your loving devotion, O God, that the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings! 8 They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights. 9 For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. 10 Extend Your loving devotion to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart. 11 Let not the foot of the proud come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12 There the evildoers lie fallen, thrown down and unable to rise.
Mark 13
As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, look at the magnificent stones and buildings!” 2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” Jesus replied. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 3 While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to be fulfilled?” 5 Jesus began by telling them, “See to it that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, as well as famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. 9 So be on your guard. You will be delivered over to the councils and beaten in the synagogues. On My account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations. 11 But when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand what to say. Instead, speak whatever you are given at that time, for it will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. 13 You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. 14 So when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let no one on the housetop go back inside to retrieve anything from his house. 16 And let no one in the field return for his cloak. 17 How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! 18 Pray that this will not occur in the winter. 19 For those will be days of tribulation unseen from the beginning of God’s creation until now, and never to be seen again. 20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has cut them short. 21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything in advance. 24 But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’ 26 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And He will send out the angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. 28 Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things happening, know that He is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. 32 No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on your guard and stay alert! For you do not know when the appointed time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch. 35 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the master of the house will return—whether in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or in the morning. 36 Otherwise, he may arrive without notice and find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep watch!”
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.