a thread opens
And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting to his death, and kept the apparel of them that slew him.
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.
And Saul was consenting to his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
from Acts 22:20 · a strong link
And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
from Acts 8:1
But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues you shall be beaten: and you shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
from Acts 5:40
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.
No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
from Leviticus 21:21
And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
You shall not do so to the LORD your God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
from Leviticus 18:21
You shall not do so to the LORD your God.
from Deuteronomy 12:31
Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
from Deuteronomy 12:4
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,
But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.
from Jude 1:24
But the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and establish you.
from I Peter 4:13
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, patience, and abundant in goodness and truth,
from I Peter 5:10
For your mercy is great above the heavens: and your truth reaches to the clouds.
from Exodus 34:6 · a strong link
Who is a God like you, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retains not his anger for ever, because he delights in mercy.
from Psalms 108:4
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.
The look on their faces bears witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.
from Jude 1:11
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
from Isaiah 3:9 · a strong link
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
from Genesis 13:13
And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.
from Genesis 18:20
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shone.
from Luke 1:79 · a strong link
Who is among you that fears the LORD, that obeys the voice of his servant, that walks in darkness, and has no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and rely on his God.
from Isaiah 9:2
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?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies.
from Luke 18:7
He is near that justifies me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is my adversary? let him come near to me.
from Romans 8:33 · a strong link
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
from Isaiah 50:8
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
from Romans 8:32
You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, so that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
from I John 4:10
And he said to them, Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
from John 15:16
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.
He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
from Matthew 10:37 · a strong link
And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
from Matthew 22:37 · a strong link
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
from Deuteronomy 10:12 · a strong link
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not burdensome.
from Deuteronomy 6:5 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Acts 22:20 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