a thread opens
That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;
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.
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
from Amos 6:4
As I live, says the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became food to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
from Ezekiel 34:2 · a strong link
These are blemishes at your love feasts, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: waterless clouds, carried along by winds; trees whose fruit withers, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
from Ezekiel 34:8
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
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
from Isaiah 49:3
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
from I Peter 2:9
Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, Sacrifice and offering you would not, but a body have you prepared me:
from John 17:19
By which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
from Hebrews 10:5 · a strong link
Therefore Jesus also, so that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
from Hebrews 10:10 · a strong link
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,
And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
from Jude 1:24
But my horn shall you exalt like the horn of a wild ox: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
from II Timothy 4:18
God brought him forth out of Egypt; he has as it were the strength of a wild ox: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.
from Psalms 92:10
Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria has devoured him; and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.
from Numbers 24:8
My people has been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
from Jeremiah 50:17
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.
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
from Jude 1:11
And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
from Numbers 16:1
The son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah,
from Exodus 6:21
To the director of music upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable are your tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
from I Chronicles 6:37
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
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
from Isaiah 9:2
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And shall not God give justice to his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to repay with affliction those who afflict you;
from Luke 18:7
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
from II Thessalonians 1:6
And I heard the angel of the waters say, You are righteous, O Lord, who are, and were, and shall be, because you have judged thus.
from Revelation of John 6:10 · a strong link
John to the seven churches in Asia: Grace be to you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits before his throne;
For look, the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: look, I will engrave its graving, says the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
And you shall make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
from Zechariah 3:9
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
Then they said, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
from Deuteronomy 33:9
The instruments also of the churl are evil: he devises wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.
from Jeremiah 18:18
For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that sets snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
from Isaiah 32:7
If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause:
from Jeremiah 5:26 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Amos 6:4 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