Observe, interpret, apply

The basic method. Stay with what the text says before you decide what it means.

Open a chapter first, then come back and study it.

1. Observe
What is written? Name the people, the words that repeat, and what happens.
2. Interpret
What did this mean for the first hearers? What does the text itself claim?
3. Apply
What is one honest response today? Not a whole new life, one true step.