Studies, reading plans and every single day within them, alongside devotionals and articles. Search by title, book of the Bible, passage or topic.
Chapter study
Do not rush into this chapter. Genesis 22 is one of the most important passages in the Bible, and without it much of the New Testament loses its depth. Some chapters can be read quickly without much loss. This is not…
Chapter study
Psalm 1 does not pray and does not praise. Nobody is addressed as God anywhere in it. It teaches, which is why it belongs with the wisdom writing of Scripture even though it stands at the head of the songbook. Read it…
Chapter study
Psalm 23 is one of the most quoted passages in the Bible and one of the least observed. Many people carry it in memory without ever slowing down to notice how carefully every sentence is arranged. David is not writing…
Chapter study
Romans 8 is quoted more than it is studied. Most believers can recite verse 28 and verse 38 and have never traced the argument that makes either of them true. Paul is not writing a collection of encouraging lines. He…
Dig Deeper
Psalm 23:1 A Psalm by David. Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing. Want here means lack. David is not saying he will never desire anything again, he is saying he will not be left without what a shepherd owes his…
Dig Deeper
Philippians 4:19 My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Need, not wishes, and the measure is His riches in glory. The word but ties the promise back to the gift the…
Dig Deeper
Genesis 22:1 After these things, God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.” The Hebrew verb is nasah, to test or put to the proof. It is the same verb used of Israel in the wilderness, where…
Bible study
A verse-by-verse study of the most beloved psalm in Scripture Psalm 23:1 A Psalm by David. Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing. Psalm 23 belongs to the collection of psalms attributed to David, Israel's second…
Bible study
The chapter that holds the Christian life from beginning to end Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.…
Dig Deeper
Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Read the pronouns. Verses one to three speak about God: he…
Dig Deeper
Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. David names two items, not one. The Hebrew words are…
Dig Deeper
Genesis 22:2 He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.” The land of…
Dig Deeper
Genesis 22:7-8 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father?” He said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will…
Dig Deeper
Psalm 23:1 A Psalm by David. Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing. David does not open with the LORD is my king, my judge or my fortress, though he uses all three elsewhere. He begins with the work he did…
Reading plan
The Psalms teach us how to speak to God honestly: in gladness, in grief, and in the long middle stretch where nothing seems to move. Read one each morning, slowly, aloud if you can. Prayer Hope Worship The Psalms are…
Verse study
אֱלֹהִים יִרְאֶה־לּוֹ הַשֶּׂה Elohim yireh lo ha-seh Hebrew Literally God will see for Himself the lamb. Hebrew joins seeing and providing in one verb, so the sentence claims that God has already looked ahead on…
Verse study
בִּנְאוֹת דֶּשֶׁא יַרְבִּיצֵנִי bin'ot deshe yarbitseni Hebrew Yarbitseni is a causative form: he causes me to lie down. Deshe is the thin new grass that appears after rain, not lush meadow. Rest is arranged, not…
Verse study
נַפְשִׁי יְשׁוֹבֵב nafshi yeshovev Hebrew Shuv means to turn back or return. Nefesh is the whole living self, appetite and breath and life, not an immaterial part of a person. Not a spa word English 'restore' suggests…
Verse study
הִנֵּנִי hinneni Hebrew Behold me. A single word made of a presentational particle and the pronoun I. It reports availability without asking what will be required. A word that gives no conditions Hinneni is not a…
Reading plan
Advent is practised waiting. Each day pairs a promise with its fulfilment, so that hope is trained on something that has already proved reliable. Hope Salvation Peace This plan draws from two sets of writers: the…
Verse study
לֹא אֶחְסָר lo echsar Hebrew The verb chaser means to lack or run short. It is the vocabulary of the empty jar, not of the full barn. A wilderness word The same verb describes Israel gathering manna: 'he that gathered…
Verse study
וְשַׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית־יְהוָה veshavti beveit YHWH Hebrew The form can be read as 'I will return' or 'I will dwell,' from the same root shuv used of the restored soul in verse 3. The psalm's end and its middle share one…
Verse study
תַּחַת בְּנוֹ tahat beno Hebrew Tahat means under, in the place of, instead of. It marks an exchange of position rather than a rescue by escape. Something still dies The chapter does not end with the knife lowered and…
Verse study
יְהוָה יִרְאֶה YHWH yireh Hebrew The LORD will see. Because God sees ahead, He sees to it. Provision in Hebrew begins as vision. A name earned on a mountain Abraham has known God as El Elyon, God Most High, and El…
Devotional
Lamentations 3:22-23 It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Jeremiah writes these lines with…
Verse study
טוֹב וָחֶסֶד יִרְדְּפוּנִי tov vachesed yirdefuni Hebrew Radaf means to pursue or chase, the word used of armies and avengers. Chesed is loyal covenant love, sworn commitment rather than warm feeling. A reversal hiding…
Verse study
יְהוָה רֹעִי YHWH ro'i Hebrew Only two words in Hebrew. There is no verb between them. The line is not 'the LORD acts like a shepherd to me' but simply 'the LORD, my shepherd,' a naked identification. The name comes…
Verse study
בְּגֵי צַלְמָוֶת begei tsalmavet Hebrew Tsalmavet joins the words for shadow and death, and may also be heard as 'deepest darkness.' Gei is a ravine, a narrow cut in the hills where a predator can wait unseen. The…
52 Week Journey
The Bible does not promise a life without suffering, and it never pretends pain is small. Job loses everything, David writes psalms from the pit, and Paul catalogues beatings and shipwrecks. What Scripture offers…
52 Week Journey
Waiting is not a gap between the real parts of faith. In Scripture it is one of the places faith is formed and shown. Abraham waited about twenty five years for a promised son, David waited years between being anointed…
52 Week Journey
Scripture's final hope is not escape from a physical world into a purely spiritual one. It is a new heaven and a new earth, a city coming down, a resurrection body, a wedding supper. The Bible ends where it began, in a…
Verse study
לֹא חָשַׂכְתָּ lo chasakta Hebrew You did not hold back or spare. The verb describes keeping something in reserve, out of reach. Genesis says Abraham kept nothing in reserve. What God says He now knows Now I know that…
Verse study
From pasture to house Verses 1 to 4 belong outdoors. Verse 5 moves indoors, and the shepherd becomes a host. The same God who finds grass also sets a table, which quietly says that His care is not only rugged and…
Devotional
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy became our father again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, WEB Peter does not…
Devotional
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy became our father again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, WEB Peter writes to…
Devotional
Revelation 21:1 I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. WEB John does not see souls departing the earth for a disembodied heaven. He sees a…
Devotional
2 Samuel 7:16 Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever. WEB David wanted to build God a house, a temple. God answers by promising to build David a house…
Devotional
2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory, WEB Paul is writing this while listing real suffering: hunted, struck down,…
Daily reading
Read Lamentations 3 whole, all sixty-six verses, before you read a word of commentary. The turn at verse 21 only lands if you have sat through verses 1 to 20 first. How long the complaint runs before hope is named, and…
Daily reading
Read Romans 8 slowly, then read the Audela chapter study on it. This is the longest study in the library because the chapter carries the whole Christian life from no condemnation to no separation. The three groans in…
Daily reading
Read Psalm 23, then open the Audela chapter study. Six verses, and the opening line does not change when the path enters the valley. The pronouns move from he to you in verse 4, exactly where the valley begins. The…
Devotional
1 Corinthians 15:54-55 But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "Death, where is…
Devotional
Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. WEB Isaiah 43:19 is spoken in the context of God promising…
Devotional
Luke 24:39 See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn't have flesh and bones, as you see that I have. WEB The disciples' first reaction to the risen Jesus is fear, supposing…
Topic study
Biblical hope is not wishful thinking. It is confident expectation resting on the character and the promises of God. Most people use the word hope to admit that they do not know. I hope tomorrow is easier. I hope the…
Biblical concept
The kingdom of God is God's rule, not a territory. Mark opens the ministry of Jesus with the announcement that the kingdom of God has come near, and calls for repentance and faith as the response. Scripture speaks of…
Biblical concept
Messiah is Hebrew and Christ is Greek, and both mean anointed. In Israel priests, kings and occasionally prophets were anointed with oil to mark them as set apart for God's work. John 1:41 translates the word for the…
Biblical concept
John 1:14 says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and that we have seen his glory. Two things are held together: full deity from verse 1, and real humanity here. Nothing is subtracted from either. The verb dwelt…
Christian Living
Psalm 34:18 Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit. WEB psalms 34 The verse does not say God mends a broken heart quickly. It says He comes near to it. Nearness is…
Christian Living
Revelation 21:3-4 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will…
Christian Living
Psalm 27:14 Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh. WEB psalms 27 The command is repeated because waiting is the hardest kind of obedience. Notice that courage is required,…
Bible question
1 John 5:14 This is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. WEB Before anything is explained, hear God speak about your prayers in his own words. 1 John…
Bible question
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the…
Bible question
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. WEB Let God's own words set the terms before the study begins. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t…
Bible question
Revelation 21:3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. WEB Heaven…
Bible question
2 Corinthians 5:8 We are courageous, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord. WEB On a question no one can research, God's word must speak first. 2 Corinthians 5:6-8…
Bible question
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen. WEB Faith is defined by Scripture itself, so let the definition come from God before any illustration of it. Hebrews 11:1-3 Now faith…
Bible question
1 Corinthians 15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep. WEB The resurrection is announced by Scripture before it is explained by anyone. 1 Corinthians…
Bible question
Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. WEB This question deserves God's words before ours. Read these passages…
Bible question
Psalm 13:1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? WEB Scripture speaks first, and what it says about silence is more honest…
The Sunday Study
Verse-by-verse teaching with historical context, and a prayer to close. Nothing else in the email.