a thread opens
And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
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 when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answer you the high priest so?
from Acts 23:2 · a strong link
And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they struck him with their hands.
from John 18:22
And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
from John 19:3
You have known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor: my adversaries are all before you.
from Matthew 27:29
Looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
from Psalms 69:19
a thread opens
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
from I Corinthians 8:4 · a strong link
I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to carved images.
from Deuteronomy 6:4
I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior.
from Isaiah 42:8
For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior: I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you.
from Isaiah 43:11
a thread opens
By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
from John 3:16 · a strong link
And she called the name of the LORD that spoke to her, You God see me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that sees me?
from John 1:18
a thread opens
But the anointing which you have received of him remains in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall remain in him.
For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, because, when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which is at work also in you that believe.
from I John 2:27
Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seems to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached to them Jesus, and the resurrection.
from I Thessalonians 2:13
Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
from Acts 17:18
But I do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning them which are asleep, so that you may not grieve, even as others which have no hope.
from Acts 4:2
These things he said: and after that he said to them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps; but I go, so that I may awake him out of sleep.
from I Thessalonians 4:13
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
from John 11:11
a thread opens
And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, varieties of tongues.
Obey your leaders, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
from I Corinthians 12:28 · a strong link
Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves to the elder. Yes, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.
from Hebrews 13:17
But he gives more grace. Therefore he said, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
from I Peter 5:5 · a strong link
And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
from James 4:6
The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
from Isaiah 2:17
a thread opens
I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly to you.
For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conduct in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
from I Chronicles 29:17
And Paul, earnestly seeing the council, said, Men and brothers, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
from II Corinthians 1:12
I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day;
from Acts 23:1 · a strong link
I am truly a man who am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as you all are this day.
from II Timothy 1:3
a thread opens
Clean out therefore the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
And I saw, and, look, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
from I Corinthians 5:7
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
from I Peter 1:19
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Acts 23:2 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