a thread opens
And I saw in a vision; and it happened, when I saw, that I was at Susa in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.
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.
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it happened in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the palace,
from Daniel 8:2 · a strong link
Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah, the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah, and Zidkijah,
from Nehemiah 1:1 · a strong link
And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal to it.
from Nehemiah 10:1
They clung to their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes;
from Nehemiah 9:38
Then they said, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as you say. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, so that they should do according to this promise.
from Nehemiah 10:29
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.
Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, and he that formed you from the womb, I am the LORD that makes all things; that stretches forth the heavens alone; that spreads abroad the earth by myself;
from I Corinthians 8:4
Doubtless you are our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: you, O LORD, are our father, our redeemer; your name is from everlasting.
from Isaiah 44:24
Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.
from Isaiah 63:16
Look, the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up its towers, they raised up its palaces; and he brought it to ruin.
from Isaiah 43:14
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.
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.
For an overseer must be blameless, as the steward of God; not arrogant, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain;
from Acts 20:28
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 the truth’s sake, which dwells in us, and shall be with us for ever.
from I John 2:27
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
from II John 1:2
How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?
from I John 1:8
I know it is so truly: but how should man be just with God?
from Job 25:4
Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
from Job 9:2 · a strong link
And enter not into judgment with your servant: for in your sight shall no man living be justified.
from Job 4:17
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
Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but did fly upon the plunder, and did evil in the sight of the LORD?
from Hebrews 13:17
And the people flew upon the plunder, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood.
from I Samuel 15:19
And whatever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eats any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
from I Samuel 14:32
Then they told Saul, saying, Look, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, You have transgressed: roll a great stone to me this day.
from Leviticus 17:10
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.
They that are of a perverse heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.
from I Chronicles 29:17
א ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
from Proverbs 11:20
Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
from Psalms 119:1
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
from Psalms 1:1 · a strong link
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 the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said to him, Where will you that we go and prepare that you may eat the Passover?
from I Corinthians 5:7
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at even.
from Mark 14:12
In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’s Passover.
from Exodus 12:18
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Daniel 8:2 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