a thread opens
But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
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 he exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and them which dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
from Daniel 11:38
And deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
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.
Speak to Aaron, saying, Whoever he be of your seed in their generations that has any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
Blessed is the man whom you choose, and cause to approach to you, so that he may dwell in your courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, even of your holy temple.
from Leviticus 21:17
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.
from Psalms 65:4 · a strong link
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 Psalms 33:12
Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
from I Peter 2:9 · a strong link
But if you shall indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.
from Exodus 19:5
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 able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of your house; and you shall make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
from Ephesians 3:20 · a strong link
For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! grain shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.
from Psalms 36:8 · a strong link
The LORD has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink your wine, for which you have labored:
from Zechariah 9:17
And they shall eat up your harvest, and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat: they shall eat up your flocks and your herds: they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees: they shall impoverish your fortified cities, in which you trusted, with the sword.
from Isaiah 62:8 · a strong link
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.
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why he slew him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks.
from I John 3:12 · a strong link
That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar.
from Hebrews 11:4 · a strong link
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it happened, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
from Matthew 23:35
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do.
from Luke 2:14
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith:
from John 17:4
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you are also called, and have professed a good profession before many witnesses.
from II Timothy 4:7 · a strong link
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?
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 Luke 18:7 · a strong link
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
And I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, says the LORD.
from Jeremiah 51:49
Shout against her around: she has given her hand: her foundations have fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she has done, do to her.
from Jeremiah 51:24 · a strong link
The LORD of hosts has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall lift up a shout against you.
from Jeremiah 50:15
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
For the love of Christ compels us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
from Matthew 10:37
The next day John sees Jesus coming to him, and says, Look, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.
from II Corinthians 5:14
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 John 1:29 · a strong link
Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze: and you shall beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain to the LORD, and their possessions to the Lord of the whole earth.
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Daniel 11:38 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