Daily Devotions · September 15
Reading for September 15
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Ezekiel 38–39 · Psalm 145 · Revelation 20
Ezekiel 38–39 · Psalm 145 · Revelation 20, Berean Standard Bible
Ezekiel 38
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him 3 and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army—your horses, your horsemen in full armor, and a great company armed with shields and bucklers, all brandishing their swords. 5 Persia, Cush, and Put will accompany them, all with shields and helmets, 6 as well as Gomer with all its troops, and Beth-togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you. 7 Get ready; prepare yourself, you and all your company gathered around you; you will be their guard. 8 After a long time you will be summoned. In the latter years you will enter a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and all now dwell securely. 9 You and all your troops, and many peoples with you will go up, advancing like a thunderstorm; you will be like a cloud covering the land. 10 This is what the Lord GOD says: On that day, thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. 11 You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will come against a quiet people who dwell securely, all of them living without walls or bars or gates— 12 in order to seize the spoil and carry off the plunder, to turn a hand against the desolate places now inhabited and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and possessions and who live at the center of the land.’ 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will ask, ‘Have you come to capture the plunder? Have you assembled your hordes to carry away loot, to make off with silver and gold, to take cattle and goods, to seize great spoil?’ 14 Therefore prophesy, son of man, and tell Gog that this is what the Lord GOD says: On that day when My people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not take notice of this? 15 And you will come from your place out of the far north—you and many peoples with you, all riding horses—a mighty horde, a huge army. 16 You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes. 17 This is what the Lord GOD says: Are you the one of whom I have spoken in former days through My servants, the prophets of Israel, who in those times prophesied for years that I would bring you against them? 18 Now on that day when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, My wrath will flare up. 19 In My zeal and fiery rage I proclaim that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that crawls upon the ground, and all mankind on the face of the earth will tremble at My presence. The mountains will be thrown down, the cliffs will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 And I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares the Lord GOD, and every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23 I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and I will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
Ezekiel 39
“As for you, O son of man, prophesy against Gog and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around, drive you along, bring you up from the far north, and send you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will strike the bow from your left hand and dash down the arrows from your right hand. 4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall—you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast. 5 You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD. 7 So I will make My holy name known among My people Israel and will no longer allow it to be profaned. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. 8 Yes, it is coming, and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD. This is the day of which I have spoken. 9 Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out, kindle fires, and burn up the weapons—the bucklers and shields, the bows and arrows, the clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. 10 They will not gather wood from the countryside or cut it from the forests, for they will use the weapons for fuel. They will loot those who looted them and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord GOD. 11 And on that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Sea. It will block those who travel through, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. 12 For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day I display My glory, declares the Lord GOD. 14 And men will be employed to continually pass through the land to cleanse it by burying the invaders who remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. 15 As they pass through the land, anyone who sees a human bone will set up a pillar next to it, until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. 16 (Even the city will be named Hamonah.) And so they will cleanse the land. 17 And as for you, son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: Call out to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great feast on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You will eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls—all the fattened animals of Bashan. 19 At the sacrifice I am preparing, you will eat fat until you are gorged and drink blood until you are drunk. 20 And at My table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, of mighty men and warriors of every kind,’ declares the Lord GOD. 21 I will display My glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the judgment that I execute and the hand that I lay upon them. 22 From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. 23 And the nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to Me. So I hid My face from them and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, so that they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and transgressions, and I hid My face from them. 25 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name. 26 They will forget their disgrace and all the treachery they committed against Me, when they dwell securely in their land, with no one to frighten them. 27 When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them out of the lands of their enemies, I will show My holiness in them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, when I regather them to their own land, not leaving any of them behind after their exile among the nations. 29 And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”
Psalm 145
A Psalm of praise. Of David. I will exalt You, my God and King; I will bless Your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts— 5 the glorious splendor of Your majesty. And I will meditate on Your wondrous works. 6 They will proclaim the power of Your awesome deeds, and I will declare Your greatness. 7 They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodness and sing joyfully of Your righteousness. 8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion. 9 The LORD is good to all; His compassion rests on all He has made. 10 All You have made will give You thanks, O LORD, and Your saints will bless You. 11 They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might, 12 to make known to men Your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful in all His words and kind in all His actions. 14 The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season. 16 You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds. 18 The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. 20 The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. 21 My mouth will declare the praise of the LORD; let every creature bless His holy name forever and ever.
Revelation 20
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time. 4 Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. 7 When the thousand years are complete, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore. 9 And they marched across the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them. 10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
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.
Added to your journal. Go to journal
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.