a thread opens
Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to trouble some of the church.
The Vigil
Today’s scroll, one verse at a time — each linked to the last by the cross-references rather than by any model of you. The same vigil for everyone, and a different one tomorrow.
When I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.
from Acts 12:1
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in me.
from Luke 22:53
To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
from Acts 26:18 · a strong link
That you may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
from Isaiah 42:7 · a strong link
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
from Acts 20:21
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
from Mark 6:12
And he said, It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.
from Luke 24:47
The LORD has made bore his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
from Isaiah 49:6 · a strong link
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
from Isaiah 52:10
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
from Acts 13:38
Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, so that he might make his mighty power to be known.
from I John 2:12
But I worked for my name’s sake, so that it should not be polluted before the pagans, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
from Psalms 106:8 · a strong link
Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name’s sake, so that it should not be polluted in the sight of the pagans, in whose sight I brought them forth.
from Ezekiel 20:9
But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yes, many a time he turned his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
from Ezekiel 20:22
The LORD is patience, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation.
from Psalms 78:38
a thread opens
Because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
from Acts 17:31
Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, in which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
from II Peter 3:7 · a strong link
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
from II Peter 3:12
a thread opens
For truly against your holy child Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
By stretching forth your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of your holy child Jesus.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
from Acts 4:30
You men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know:
from Acts 3:6 · a strong link
Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak to you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works.
from Acts 2:22
a thread opens
You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you.
And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,
from Acts 7:51
For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
from Acts 7:9
Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
from Matthew 27:18
Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, greed, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; whisperers,
from Proverbs 27:4
A perverse man sows strife: and a whisperer separates chief friends.
from Romans 1:29
a thread opens
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
But the Lord said to him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
from Acts 22:21 · a strong link
Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power.
from Acts 9:15 · a strong link
Who also has made us able ministers of the new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.
from Ephesians 3:7
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
from II Corinthians 3:6
And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things says the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
from I John 1:1
Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What you see, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches in Asia; to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Acts 12:1 along this chain. Today’s own vigil is laid separately.
Each verse follows the one before it along the chain a study Bible draws — a century old, public, and compiled by people arguing about Scripture rather than about how long you stay. Every card says which verse it came from and opens the chapter it belongs to. Today’s vigil is the same for every reader and is worked out from the date alone, so there is no account, no counter, and nothing stored in your browser or ours.
The text is the Lantern Modern Standard. The links are openbible.info’s cross-reference set (CC BY), the same apparatus behind the reader’s Echoes drawer. Read a whole book · Today’s table