Daily Devotions · March 7
Reading for March 7
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Deuteronomy 5–6 · Psalm 43 · Mark 14
Deuteronomy 5–6 · Psalm 43 · Mark 14, Berean Standard Bible
Deuteronomy 5
Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances that I declare in your hearing this day. Learn them and observe them carefully. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today. 4 The LORD spoke with you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. 5 At that time I was standing between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain. And He said: 6 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 7 You shall have no other gods before Me. 8 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. 11 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain. 12 Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox or donkey or any of your livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest as you do. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. 16 Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 17 You shall not murder. 18 You shall not commit adultery. 19 You shall not steal. 20 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house or field, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 22 The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And when you heard the voice out of the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me, 24 and you said, “Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him. 25 But now, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us, and we will die, if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer. 26 For who of all flesh has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire, as we have, and survived? 27 Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then you can tell us everything the LORD our God tells you; we will listen and obey.” 28 And the LORD heard the words you spoke to me, and He said to me, “I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. 29 If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever. 30 Go and tell them: ‘Return to your tents.’ 31 But you stand here with Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and statutes and ordinances you are to teach them to follow in the land that I am giving them to possess.” 32 So be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 You must walk in all the ways that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
Deuteronomy 6
These are the commandments and statutes and ordinances that the LORD your God has instructed me to teach you to follow in the land that you are about to enter and possess, 2 so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the LORD your God all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, and so that your days may be prolonged. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you. 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. 5 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. 10 And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build, 11 with houses full of every good thing with which you did not fill them, with wells that you did not dig, and with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you. 15 For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth. 16 Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah. 17 You are to diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God and the testimonies and statutes He has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, so that it may be well with you and that you may enter and possess the good land that the LORD your God swore to give your fathers, 19 driving out all your enemies before you, as the LORD has said. 20 In the future, when your son asks, “What is the meaning of the decrees and statutes and ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?” 21 then you are to tell him, “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the LORD inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household. 23 But He brought us out from there to lead us in and give us the land that He had sworn to our fathers. 24 And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes and to fear the LORD our God, that we may always be prosperous and preserved, as we are to this day. 25 And if we are careful to observe every one of these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us, then that will be our righteousness.”
Psalm 43
Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men. 2 For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression? 3 Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain and to the place where You dwell. 4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy. I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God. 5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
Mark 14
Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away, and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a covert way to arrest Jesus and kill Him. 2 “But not during the feast,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.” 3 While Jesus was in Bethany reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke open the jar and poured it on Jesus’ head. 4 Some of those present, however, expressed their indignation to one another: “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for over three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone; why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful deed to Me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them whenever you want. But you will not always have Me. 8 She has done what she could to anoint My body in advance of My burial. 9 And truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” 10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this, and they promised to give him money. So Judas began to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus. 12 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 13 So He sent two of His disciples and told them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jug of water will meet you. Follow him, 14 and whichever house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is My guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’ 15 And he will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” 16 So the disciples left and went into the city, where they found everything as Jesus had described. And they prepared the Passover. 17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 And while they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you who is eating with Me will betray Me.” 19 They began to be grieved and to ask Him one after another, “Surely not I?” 20 He answered, “It is one of the Twelve—the one who is dipping his hand into the bowl with Me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” 22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I tell you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.” 26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” 29 Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I never will.” 30 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” 31 But Peter kept insisting, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never deny You.” And all the others said the same thing. 32 Then they came to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus told His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took with Him Peter, James, and John, and began to be deeply troubled and distressed. 34 Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.” 35 Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour would pass from Him. 36 “Abba, Father,” He said, “all things are possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.” 37 Then Jesus returned and found them sleeping. “Simon, are you asleep?” He asked. “Were you not able to keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” 39 Again He went away and prayed, saying the same thing. 40 And again Jesus returned and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And they did not know what to answer Him. 41 When Jesus returned the third time, He said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us go. See, My betrayer is approaching!” 43 While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, scribes, and elders. 44 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The One I kiss is the man; arrest Him and lead Him away securely.” 45 Going directly to Jesus, he said, “Rabbi!” and kissed Him. 46 Then the men seized Jesus and arrested Him. 47 And one of the bystanders drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 48 Jesus asked the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would an outlaw? 49 Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest Me. But this has happened that the Scriptures would be fulfilled.” 50 Then everyone deserted Him and fled. 51 One young man who had been following Jesus was wearing a linen cloth around his body. They caught hold of him, 52 but he pulled free of the linen cloth and ran away naked. 53 They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders, and scribes assembled. 54 Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he sat with the officers and warmed himself by the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but they did not find any. 56 For many bore false witness against Jesus, but their testimony was inconsistent. 57 Then some men stood up and testified falsely against Him: 58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this man-made temple, and in three days I will build another that is made without hands.’” 59 But even their testimony was inconsistent. 60 So the high priest stood up before them and questioned Jesus, “Have You no answer? What are these men testifying against You?” 61 But Jesus remained silent and made no reply. Again the high priest questioned Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “Why do we need any more witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy. What is your verdict?” And they all condemned Him as deserving of death. 65 Then some of them began to spit on Him. They blindfolded Him, struck Him with their fists, and said to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in His face. 66 While Peter was in the courtyard below, one of the servant girls of the high priest came down 67 and saw him warming himself there. She looked at Peter and said, “You also were with Jesus the Nazarene.” 68 But he denied it. “I do not know or even understand what you are talking about,” he said. Then he went out to the gateway, and the rooster crowed. 69 There the servant girl saw him and again said to those standing nearby, “This man is one of them.” 70 But he denied it again. After a little while, those standing nearby said once more to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you too are a Galilean.” 71 But he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak!” 72 And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
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.