a thread opens
You shall not plant yourself an Asherah pole of any trees near to the altar of the LORD your God, who you shall make you.
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.
For the LORD shall strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.
from Deuteronomy 16:21
But you shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their Asherah poles:
from I Kings 14:15
And you shall make no treaty with the inhabitants of this land; you shall throw down their altars: but you have not obeyed my voice: why have you done this?
from Exodus 34:13
And when the LORD your God shall deliver them before you; you shall strike them, and utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them:
from Judges 2:2
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love to all the saints,
from Acts 20:21
We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
from Ephesians 1:15
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
from Colossians 1:3
And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great famine throughout all the world: which happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.
from Romans 1:8
And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came to them.
from Acts 11:28
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
Him has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
from Acts 13:38
And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
from Acts 5:31
And he said, I will certainly return to you according to the time of life; and, look, Sarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
from Matthew 1:21
For Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
from Genesis 18:10 · a strong link
And your cousin Elisabeth, she has also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
from Genesis 21:2
a thread opens
Because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
from Acts 17:31
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
from II Peter 3:7
They shall perish; but you remain; and they all shall grow old as does a garment;
from Matthew 24:35 · a strong link
a thread opens
For truly against your holy child Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
By stretching forth your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of your holy child Jesus.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
from Acts 4:30
As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
from Acts 3:6
And you now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man takes from you.
from II Corinthians 6:10 · a strong link
a thread opens
You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you.
For circumcision truly profits, if you keep the law: but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision.
from Acts 7:51
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
from Romans 2:25
O house of David, thus says the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is plundered out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
from Jeremiah 4:4
And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
from Jeremiah 21:12
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh.
from Isaiah 1:31 · a strong link
a thread opens
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
But the Lord said to him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
from Acts 22:21 · a strong link
To which I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
from Acts 9:15
Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power.
from I Timothy 2:7
Who also has made us able ministers of the new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.
from Ephesians 3:7
But their minds were blinded: for until this day remains the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ.
from II Corinthians 3:6
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in me.
from II Corinthians 3:14
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Deuteronomy 16:21 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