Daily Devotions · September 16
Reading for September 16
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Ezekiel 40–41 · Psalm 128 · Revelation 21
Ezekiel 40–41 · Psalm 128 · Revelation 21, Berean Standard Bible
Ezekiel 40
In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He took me there. 2 In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose southern slope was a structure that resembled a city. 3 So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. 4 “Son of man,” he said to me, “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Report to the house of Israel everything you see.” 5 And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured the wall to be one rod thick and one rod high. 6 Then he came to the gate facing east and climbed its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate to be one rod deep. 7 Each gate chamber was one rod long and one rod wide, and there were five cubits between the gate chambers. The inner threshold of the gate by the portico facing inward was one rod deep. 8 Then he measured the portico of the gateway inside; 9 it was eight cubits deep, and its jambs were two cubits thick. And the portico of the gateway faced the temple. 10 There were three gate chambers on each side of the east gate, each with the same measurements, and the gateposts on either side also had the same measurements. 11 And he measured the width of the gateway entrance to be ten cubits, and its length was thirteen cubits. 12 In front of each gate chamber was a wall one cubit high, and the gate chambers were six cubits square. 13 Then he measured the gateway from the roof of one gate chamber to the roof of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits from doorway to doorway. 14 Next he measured the gateposts to be sixty cubits high. The gateway extended around to the gatepost of the courtyard. 15 And the distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its inner portico was fifty cubits. 16 The gate chambers and their side pillars had beveled windows all around the inside of the gateway. The porticos also had windows all around on the inside. Each side pillar was decorated with palm trees. 17 Then he brought me into the outer court, and there were chambers and a pavement laid out all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement, 18 which flanked the gateways and corresponded to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement. 19 Then he measured the distance from the front of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court; it was a hundred cubits on the east side as well as on the north. 20 He also measured the length and width of the gateway of the outer court facing north. 21 Its three gate chambers on each side, its side pillars, and its portico all had the same measurements as the first gate: fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 22 Its windows, portico, and palm trees had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them. 23 There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the east. He measured the distance from gateway to gateway to be a hundred cubits. 24 Then he led me to the south side, and I saw a gateway facing south. He measured its side pillars and portico, and they had the same measurements as the others. 25 Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around, like the other windows. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 26 Seven steps led up to it, and its portico was opposite them; it had palm trees on its side pillars, one on each side. 27 The inner court also had a gate facing south, and he measured the distance from gateway to gateway toward the south to be a hundred cubits. 28 Next he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same measurements as the others. 29 Its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 30 (The porticoes around the inner court were twenty-five cubits long and five cubits deep.) 31 Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees. Eight steps led up to it. 32 And he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gateway; it had the same measurements as the others. 33 Its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 34 Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees on each side. Eight steps led up to it. 35 Then he brought me to the north gate and measured it. It had the same measurements as the others, 36 as did its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico. It also had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 37 Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees on each side. Eight steps led up to it. 38 There was a chamber with a doorway by the portico in each of the inner gateways. There the burnt offering was to be washed. 39 Inside the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were to be slaughtered. 40 Outside, as one goes up to the entrance of the north gateway, there were two tables on one side and two more tables on the other side of the gate’s portico. 41 So there were four tables inside the gateway and four outside—eight tables in all—on which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered. 42 There were also four tables of dressed stone for the burnt offering, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit high. On these were placed the utensils used to slaughter the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices. 43 The double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth long, were fastened all around the inside of the room, and the flesh of the offering was to be placed on the tables. 44 Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two chambers, one beside the north gate and facing south, and another beside the south gate and facing north. 45 Then the man said to me: “The chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple, 46 and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the only Levites who may approach the LORD to minister before Him.” 47 Next he measured the court. It was square, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide. And the altar was in front of the temple. 48 Then he brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the side pillars of the portico to be five cubits on each side. The width of the gateway was fourteen cubits and its sidewalls were three cubits on either side. 49 The portico was twenty cubits wide and twelve cubits deep, and ten steps led up to it. There were columns by the side pillars, one on each side.
Ezekiel 41
Then the man brought me into the outer sanctuary and measured the side pillars to be six cubits wide on each side. 2 The width of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on each side. He also measured the length of the outer sanctuary to be forty cubits, and the width to be twenty cubits. 3 And he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the side pillars at the entrance to be two cubits wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the walls on each side were seven cubits wide. 4 Then he measured the room adjacent to the inner sanctuary to be twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.” 5 Next he measured the wall of the temple to be six cubits thick, and the width of each side room around the temple was four cubits. 6 The side rooms were arranged one above another in three levels of thirty rooms each. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports would not be fastened into the wall of the temple itself. 7 The side rooms surrounding the temple widened at each successive level, because the structure surrounding the temple ascended by stages corresponding to the narrowing of the temple wall as it rose upward. And so a stairway went up from the lowest story to the highest, through the middle one. 8 I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the full length of a rod, six long cubits. 9 The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick, and the open area between the side rooms of the temple 10 and the outer chambers was twenty cubits wide all around the temple. 11 The side rooms opened into this area, with one entrance on the north and another on the south. The open area was five cubits wide all around. 12 Now the building that faced the temple courtyard on the west was seventy cubits wide, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, with a length of ninety cubits. 13 Then he measured the temple to be a hundred cubits long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long. 14 The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, was a hundred cubits. 15 Next he measured the length of the building facing the temple courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries on each side; it was a hundred cubits. The outer sanctuary, the inner sanctuary, and the porticoes facing the court, 16 as well as the thresholds and the beveled windows and the galleries all around with their three levels opposite the threshold, were overlaid with wood on all sides. They were paneled from the ground to the windows, and the windows were covered. 17 In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary on all the walls, spaced evenly around the inner and outer sanctuary, 18 were alternating carved cherubim and palm trees. Each cherub had two faces: 19 the face of a man was toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion was toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved all the way around the temple. 20 Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the outer sanctuary from the floor to the space above the entrance. 21 The outer sanctuary had a rectangular doorframe, and the doorframe of the sanctuary was similar. 22 There was an altar of wood three cubits high and two cubits square. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. And the man told me, “This is the table that is before the LORD.” 23 Both the outer sanctuary and the inner sanctuary had double doors, 24 and each door had two swinging panels. There were two panels for one door and two for the other. 25 Cherubim and palm trees like those on the walls were carved on the doors of the outer sanctuary, and there was a wooden canopy outside, on the front of the portico. 26 There were beveled windows and palm trees on the sidewalls of the portico. The side rooms of the temple also had canopies.
Psalm 128
A song of ascents. Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways! 2 For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours. 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table. 4 In this way indeed shall blessing come to the man who fears the LORD. 5 May the LORD bless you from Zion, that you may see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life, 6 that you may see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!
Revelation 21
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. 4 ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.” 6 And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. 7 The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. 8 But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.” 9 Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal. 12 The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 The angel who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, with its width the same as its length. And he measured the city with the rod, and all its dimensions were equal—12,000 stadia in length and width and height. 17 And he measured its wall to be 144 cubits, by the human measure the angel was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone: The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. 22 But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory. 25 Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there. 26 And into the city will be brought the glory and honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
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.
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.