a thread opens
And now, look, I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
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.
Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.
from Acts 20:25
And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy to all the brothers.
from Acts 20:38
Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, so that they may lack nothing.
from Acts 15:3
a thread opens
Then Moses said to Aaron, This is it that the LORD spoke, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.
And said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
from Leviticus 10:3
Look, my servant, whom I uphold; my elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
from Isaiah 49:3
But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
from Isaiah 42:1
O you seed of Abraham his servant, you children of Jacob his chosen.
from Isaiah 41:8
Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen:
from Psalms 105:6
But do not fear you, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, look, I will save you from in the distance, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
from Isaiah 44:1
a thread opens
Now to him that is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you.
from II Corinthians 4:14
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
from Romans 8:11
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward those who belong to Christ at his coming.
from I Corinthians 15:20 · a strong link
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
from I Corinthians 15:23
a thread opens
Woe to them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
And in process of time it happened, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
from Jude 1:11
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer to the LORD, them have I given you.
from Genesis 4:3
The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk.
from Numbers 18:12
And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house of the LORD:
from Exodus 23:19
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moves in it.
from Luke 2:14
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and its fullness.
from Psalms 69:34 · a strong link
The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be its glad.
from Psalms 96:11
a thread opens
And shall not God give justice to his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great reward.
from Luke 18:7
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, since you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
from Hebrews 10:35
Now if Timothy come, see that he may be with you without fear: for he works the work of the Lord, as I also do.
from I Corinthians 15:58 · a strong link
For this cause have I sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.
from I Corinthians 16:10
To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
from I Corinthians 4:17
To all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
from II Timothy 1:2
a thread opens
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
from Luke 14:26
And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O God; for you have also spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.
from Deuteronomy 33:9
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 I Chronicles 17:17
I the LORD have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
from Isaiah 49:6 · a strong link
I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, says the LORD of hosts.
from Isaiah 42:6
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Acts 20:25 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