Daily Devotions · October 31
Reading for October 31
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Job 22 · Mark 7–8
Job 22 · Mark 7–8, Berean Standard Bible
Job 22
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: 2 “Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him? 3 Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless? 4 Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you? 5 Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless? 6 For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing. 7 You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished, 8 while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it. 9 You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed. 10 Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you; 11 it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you. 12 Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are! 13 Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness? 14 Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’ 15 Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod? 16 They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood. 17 They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’ 18 But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked. 19 The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock them: 20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’ 21 Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you. 22 Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart. 23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents 24 and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines, 25 then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you. 26 Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. 27 You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. 28 Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways. 29 When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly. 30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”
Mark 7
Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, 2 and they saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled—that is, unwashed. 3 Now in holding to the tradition of the elders, the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat until they wash their hands ceremonially. 4 And on returning from the market, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions for them to observe, including the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and couches for dining. 5 So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with defiled hands.” 6 Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 7 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ 8 You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.” 9 He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ 11 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12 he is no longer permitted to do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.” 14 Once again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “All of you, listen to Me and understand: 15 Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.” 16 17 After Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples inquired about the parable. 18 “Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and then is eliminated.” (Thus all foods are clean.) 20 He continued: “What comes out of a man, that is what defiles him. 21 For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. 23 All these evils come from within, and these are what defile a man.” 24 Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre. Not wanting anyone to know He was there, He entered a house, but was unable to escape their notice. 25 Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit soon heard about Jesus, and she came and fell at His feet. 26 Now she was a Greek woman of Syrophoenician origin, and she kept asking Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 “First let the children have their fill,” He said. “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 28 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then Jesus told her, “Because of this answer, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone. 31 Then Jesus left the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 Some people brought to Him a man who was deaf and hardly able to speak, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him. 33 So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). 35 Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak plainly. 36 Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more He ordered them, the more widely they proclaimed it. 37 The people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
Mark 8
In those days the crowd once again became very large, and they had nothing to eat. Jesus called the disciples to Him and said, 2 “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a great distance.” 4 His disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could anyone find enough bread to feed all these people?” 5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied. 6 And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves, gave thanks and broke them, and gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And they distributed them to the crowd. 7 They also had a few small fish, and Jesus blessed them and ordered that these be set before them as well. 8 The people ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 And about four thousand men were present. And when Jesus had dismissed the crowd, 10 He immediately got into the boat with His disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. 11 Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, testing Him by demanding from Him a sign from heaven. 12 Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 And He left them, got back into the boat, and crossed to the other side. 14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 “Watch out!” He cautioned them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.” 16 So they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 Aware of their conversation, Jesus asked them, “Why are you debating about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Do you have such hard hearts? 18 ‘Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?’ And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you collect?” “Twelve,” they answered. 20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you collect?” “Seven,” they said. 21 Then He asked them, “Do you still not understand?” 22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then He spit on the man’s eyes and placed His hands on him. “Can you see anything?” He asked. 24 The man looked up and said, “I can see the people, but they look like trees walking around.” 25 Once again Jesus placed His hands on the man’s eyes, and when he opened them his sight was restored, and he could see everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home and said, “Do not go back into the village.” 27 Then Jesus and His disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say I am?” 28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” 30 And Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about Him. 31 Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke this message quite frankly, and Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But Jesus, turning and looking at His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” 34 Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it. 36 What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
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.
-
Scripture
Write out the verse that stood out to you.
-
Observation
What is it saying? Who is speaking, and to whom?
-
Application
What does it mean for your life today? Be specific.
-
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.