a thread opens
What profit has a man of all his labor which he takes under the sun?
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 what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
from Ecclesiastes 1:3
And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
from Mark 8:36
If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantages it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.
from Luke 12:19
Come, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.
from I Corinthians 15:32
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
from Acts 20:21
And saying, Repent you: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
from Matthew 4:17 · a strong link
I say to you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety-nine just persons, which need no repentance.
from Matthew 3:2
There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their obscenity.
from Luke 15:7 · a strong link
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you, that I am not as other men are, swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.
from Proverbs 30:12 · a strong link
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
from Acts 13:38 · a strong link
I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
from Luke 24:47
Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, so that he might make his mighty power to be known.
from I John 2:12
And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have worked with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O you house of Israel, says the Lord GOD.
from Psalms 106:8
Thus Ezekiel is to you a sign: according to all that he has done shall you do: and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
from Ezekiel 20:44
And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;
from Ezekiel 24:24
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.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
from Acts 17:31
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
from Matthew 25:31
Which also said, You men of Galilee, why stand gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.
from Matthew 16:27
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,
And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.
from Matthew 27:2 · a strong link
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered to him the whole band of soldiers.
from Matthew 20:19
Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the Passover.
from Matthew 27:27 · 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.
But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
from Acts 7:51
This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
from Acts 7:27
He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the dunghill;
from Acts 7:35
To set up on high those that are low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
from Psalms 113:7
He has put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
from Job 5:11
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
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
from Acts 9:15 · a strong link
Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.
from Galatians 1:15 · a strong link
And Moses said to the LORD, See, you say to me, Bring up this people: and you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.
from Jeremiah 1:5
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
from Exodus 33:12
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
from John 10:14 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Ecclesiastes 1:3 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