Daily Devotions · November 2
Reading for November 2
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Job 23–24 · Mark 11–12
Job 23–24 · Mark 11–12, Berean Standard Bible
Job 23
Then Job answered: 2 “Even today my complaint is bitter. His hand is heavy despite my groaning. 3 If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat. 4 I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. 5 I would learn how He would answer, and consider what He would say. 6 Would He contend with me in His great power? No, He would certainly take note of me. 7 Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge. 8 If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot find Him. 9 When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him. 10 Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 11 My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept His way without turning aside. 12 I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread. 13 But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires. 14 For He carries out His decree against me, and He has many such plans. 15 Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider this, I fear Him. 16 God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me. 17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.
Job 24
“Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days? 2 Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks. 3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge. 4 They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding. 5 Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children. 6 They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked. 7 Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold. 8 Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter. 9 The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt. 10 Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry. 11 They crush olives within their walls; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty. 12 From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing. 13 Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths. 14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief. 15 The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face. 16 In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light. 17 For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness! 18 They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards. 19 As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned. 20 The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree. 21 They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow. 22 Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life. 23 He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on their ways. 24 They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain. 25 If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”
Mark 11
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two of His disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it shortly.’” 4 So they went and found the colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. They untied it, 5 and some who were standing there asked, “Why are you untying the colt?” 6 The disciples answered as Jesus had instructed them, and the people gave them permission. 7 Then they led the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, and He sat on it. 8 Many in the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut from the fields. 9 The ones who went ahead and those who followed were shouting: “Hosanna!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” 10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest!” 11 Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve. 12 The next day, when they had left Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if there was any fruit on it. But when He reached it, He found nothing on it except leaves, since it was not the season for figs. 14 Then He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again.” And His disciples heard this statement. 15 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” 18 When the chief priests and scribes heard this, they looked for a way to kill Him. For they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. 19 And when evening came, Jesus and His disciples went out of the city. 20 As they were walking back in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from its roots. 21 Peter remembered it and said, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree You cursed has withered.” 22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus said to them. 23 “Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.” 26 27 After their return to Jerusalem, Jesus was walking in the temple courts, and the chief priests, scribes, and elders came up to Him. 28 “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You the authority to do them?” 29 “I will ask you one question,” Jesus replied, “and if you answer Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30 John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me!” 31 They deliberated among themselves what they should answer: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From men’...” they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John truly was a prophet. 33 So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Mark 12
Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey. 2 At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent them another servant, and they struck him over the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and this one they killed. He sent many others; some they beat and others they killed. 6 Finally, having one beloved son, he sent him to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. 7 But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they seized the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 11 This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” 12 At this, the leaders sought to arrest Jesus, for they knew that He had spoken this parable against them. But fearing the crowd, they left Him and went away. 13 Later, they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to catch Jesus in His words. 14 “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and seek favor from no one. Indeed, You are impartial and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them or not?” 15 But Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to inspect.” 16 So they brought it, and He asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they answered. 17 Then Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” And they marveled at Him. 18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him: 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died, leaving no children. 21 Then the second one married the widow, but he also died and left no children. And the third did likewise. 22 In this way, none of the seven left any children. And last of all, the woman died. 23 In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be? For all seven were married to her.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Aren’t you mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!” 28 Now one of the scribes had come up and heard their debate. Noticing how well Jesus had answered them, he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” 32 “Right, Teacher,” the scribe replied. “You have stated correctly that God is One and there is no other but Him, 33 and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. This is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely, He said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question Him any further. 35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, He asked, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? 36 Speaking by the Holy Spirit, David himself declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’ 37 David himself calls Him ‘Lord.’ So how can He be David’s son?” And the large crowd listened to Him with delight. 38 In His teaching Jesus also said, “Watch out for the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, to receive greetings in the marketplaces, 39 and to have the chief seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.” 41 As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury, He watched the crowd putting money into it. And many rich people put in large amounts. 42 Then one poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amounted to a small fraction of a denarius. 43 Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more than all the others into the treasury. 44 For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
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.
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.