a thread opens
And if a Levite come from any of your gates out of all Israel, where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind to the place which the LORD shall choose;
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 to the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even to his habitation shall you seek, and there you shall come:
from Deuteronomy 18:6
Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; there shall you bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to the LORD:
from Deuteronomy 12:5 · a strong link
If there arise a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates: then shall you arise, and get you up into the place which the LORD your God shall choose;
from Deuteronomy 12:11
Thus says the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
from Deuteronomy 17:8
And that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;
from Haggai 2:11
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 the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
from I Corinthians 8:4
Listen to me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
from Isaiah 44:6 · a strong link
Listen, O isles, to me; and listen, you people, from afar; The LORD has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name.
from Isaiah 48:12
And now, says the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.
from Isaiah 49:1
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
But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn to your fathers, has the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving devotion have I drawn you.
from Deuteronomy 7:8 · a strong link
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 this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
from I John 2:27
Of his own will he fathered us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
from Hebrews 8:10
Being born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, by the word of God, which lives and remains for ever.
from James 1:18 · a strong link
But the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you.
from I Peter 1:23
The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
from I Peter 1:25
For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, so that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
from Isaiah 40:8
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.
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.
from I Corinthians 12:28
The farmer that labors must be first to receive a share of the crops.
from I Timothy 5:17
For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.
from II Timothy 2:6
Be patient therefore, brothers, to the coming of the Lord. Look, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
from Hebrews 10:36
For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of boasting? Are not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
from James 5:7
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
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
from Psalms 119:1
For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
from Titus 2:11
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:
But God judges those outside. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
from I Corinthians 5:7
Then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them with stones that they die; the young woman, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor’s wife: so you shall put away evil from among you.
from I Corinthians 5:13
And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she will; but you shall not sell her at all for money, you shall not make merchandise of her, because you have humbled her.
from Deuteronomy 22:24
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Deuteronomy 18:6 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