a thread opens
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and trouble of spirit.
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.
Again, I considered all toil, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This is also vanity and trouble of spirit.
from Ecclesiastes 1:14
For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that has not labored in it shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
from Ecclesiastes 4:4
Therefore I hated life; because the work that is worked under the sun is grievous to me: for all is vanity and trouble of spirit.
from Ecclesiastes 2:21
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.
I was mute, I opened not my mouth; because you did it.
from Leviticus 10:3
But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
from Psalms 39:9 · a strong link
To the director of music, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
from Job 2:10
ב BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed to it according to your word.
from Psalms 39:1
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of your mother:
from Psalms 119:9
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
from Proverbs 6:20
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,
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight:
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, so that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
from Colossians 1:22
But we must give thanks always to God for you, brothers beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
from Ephesians 1:4
For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
from II Thessalonians 2:13 · a strong link
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
from I Thessalonians 5:9 · 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.
Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
He sent messengers therefore to Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Look, there has a people come out from Egypt: look, they cover the face of the earth, and they remain opposite me:
from II Peter 2:15
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
from Numbers 22:5 · a strong link
And now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
from Joshua 24:9
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
Jesus says to them, My food is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
from John 17:4 · a strong link
But he said to them, I have food to eat that you know not of.
from John 4:34
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?
A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the director of music upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you:
from Luke 18:7 · a strong link
Hide not your face far from me; put not your servant away in anger: you have been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
from Psalms 88:1
Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit fails: hide not your face from me, lest I be like to them that go down into the pit.
from Psalms 27:9
And hide not your face from your servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.
from Psalms 143:7 · a strong link
Hide not your face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline your ear to me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.
from Psalms 69:17
Let my prayer come before you: incline your ear to my cry;
from Psalms 102:2
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 his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
from John 12:25
Long time therefore remained they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony to the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
from Acts 20:24
And now, Lord, look on their threatenings: and grant to your servants, that with all boldness they may speak your word,
from Acts 14:3
But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
from Acts 4:29
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Ecclesiastes 1:14 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