a thread opens
Claudius Lysias to the most excellent governor Felix sends greeting.
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.
But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
from Acts 23:26
We accept it always, and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.
from Acts 26:25
It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus,
from Acts 24:3
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
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you, and your fellows that sit before you: for they are men wondered at: for, look, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
from Isaiah 49:3
In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and beautiful for them that have escaped of Israel.
from Zechariah 3:8
He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.
from Isaiah 4:2
And the remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
from Isaiah 27:6 · a strong link
You prepared room before it, and did cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
from Isaiah 37:31
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,
Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
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 Romans 16:25
Even us, whom he has called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
from I Peter 5:10
And he says to me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he says to me, These are the true sayings of God.
from Romans 9:24
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.
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.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
from Jude 1:11
But that we write to them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from sexual immorality, and from things strangled, and from blood.
As for the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from sexual immorality.
from Acts 15:20
That you abstain from foods offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from sexual immorality: from which if you keep yourselves, you shall do well. Farewell.
from Acts 21:25 · a strong link
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Saying, Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: look, your King comes to you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt the foal of a donkey.
from Luke 19:38
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
from Zechariah 9:9
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?
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some men count slowness; but is patience toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
from Luke 18:7
And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious to you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
from II Peter 3:9 · a strong link
The stouthearted are plundered, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.
from Isaiah 30:18
In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the LORD.
from Psalms 76:5
Therefore you shall say to them, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink, and be drunken, and spit, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
from Jeremiah 51:39
You are filled with shame for glory: drink also, and let your foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’s right hand shall be turned to you, and shameful vomit shall be on your glory.
from Jeremiah 25:27 · a strong link
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.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
from Psalms 73:25
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
from Matthew 5:8 · a strong link
Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, with which will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
from Hebrews 12:14
Let no unwholesome talk proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of building up, so that it may minister grace to the hearers.
from Mark 9:50
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Acts 23:26 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