Daily Devotions · October 11
Reading for October 11
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Nehemiah 5–6 · Psalm 146 · Luke 24
Nehemiah 5–6 · Psalm 146 · Luke 24, Berean Standard Bible
Nehemiah 5
About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. 2 Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.” 3 Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.” 4 Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. 5 We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.” 6 When I heard their outcry and these complaints, I became extremely angry, 7 and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them 8 and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!” But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say. 9 So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies? 10 I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending the people money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury. 11 Please restore to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and oil that you have been assessing them.” 12 “We will restore it,” they replied, “and will require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.” So I summoned the priests and required of the nobles and officials an oath that they would do what they had promised. 13 I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. May such a man be shaken out and have nothing!” The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised. 14 Furthermore, from the day King Artaxerxes appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from his twentieth year until his thirty-second year (twelve years total), neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. 15 The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people. But I did not do this, because of my fear of God. 16 Instead, I devoted myself to the construction of the wall, and all my servants were gathered there for the work; we did not acquire any land. 17 There were 150 Jews and officials at my table, besides the guests from the surrounding nations. 18 Each day one ox, six choice sheep, and some fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine was provided. But I did not demand the food allotted to the governor, because the burden on the people was so heavy. 19 Remember me favorably, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.
Nehemiah 6
When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates— 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to go down to you?” 4 Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave the same reply. 5 The fifth time, Sanballat sent me this same message by his young servant, who had in his hand an unsealed letter 6 that read: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king, 7 and you have even appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf: ‘There is a king in Judah.’ Soon these rumors will reach the ears of the king. So come, let us confer together.” 8 Then I sent him this reply: “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.” 9 For they were all trying to frighten us, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, my God, strengthen my hands. 10 Later, I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. He said: “Let us meet at the house of God inside the temple. Let us shut the temple doors because they are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you!” 11 But I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Should one like me go into the temple to save his own life? I will not go!” 12 I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had uttered this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would sin by doing as he suggested, so they could give me a bad name in order to discredit me. 14 O my God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat for what they have done, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the other prophets who tried to intimidate me. 15 So the wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul. 16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and disheartened, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God. 17 Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters kept coming to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah. 19 Moreover, these nobles kept reporting to me Tobiah’s good deeds, and they relayed my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
Psalm 146
Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul. 2 I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 3 Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save. 4 When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground; on that very day his plans perish. 5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, 6 the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He remains faithful forever. 7 He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free, 8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind, the LORD lifts those who are weighed down, the LORD loves the righteous. 9 The LORD protects foreigners; He sustains the fatherless and the widow, but the ways of the wicked He frustrates. 10 The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Hallelujah!
Luke 24
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in radiant apparel stood beside them. 5 As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’” 8 Then they remembered His words. 9 And when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But their words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. And after bending down and seeing only the linen cloths, he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. 13 That same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 And as they talked and deliberated, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?” They stood still, with sadness on their faces. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, “Are You the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in recent days?” 19 “What things?” He asked. “The events involving Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet, powerful in speech and action before God and all the people. 20 Our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and they crucified Him. 21 But we were hoping He was the One who would redeem Israel. And besides all this, it is the third day since these things took place. 22 Furthermore, some of our women astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 but they did not find His body. They came and told us they had seen a vision of angels, who said that Jesus was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had described. But Him they did not see.” 25 Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself. 28 As they approached the village where they were headed, He seemed to be going farther. 29 But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them. 30 While He was reclining at the table with them, He took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus—and He disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, gathered together 34 and saying, “The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. 36 While they were describing these events, Jesus Himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 37 But they were startled and frightened, thinking they had seen a spirit. 38 “Why are you troubled,” Jesus asked, “and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see—for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” 40 And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet. 41 While they were still in disbelief because of their joy and amazement, He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 So they gave Him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and He took it and ate it in front of them. 44 Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” 50 When Jesus had led them out as far as Bethany, He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 praising God continually in the temple.
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.