a thread opens
I have seen the toil, which God has given to the sons of men to be occupied in it.
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.
And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this grievous toil has God given to the sons of man to be occupied with it.
from Ecclesiastes 3:10
When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night sees sleep with his eyes:)
from Ecclesiastes 1:13
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he gives his beloved sleep.
from Ecclesiastes 8:16
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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.
And said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
from Leviticus 10:3
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
from Isaiah 49:3
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
from I Peter 2:9
Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.
from Luke 1:79
There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
from Psalms 23:4 · a strong link
His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
from Psalms 14:5
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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,
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
from Jude 1:24
The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
from Revelation of John 14:5 · a strong link
And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed on it: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.
from Zephaniah 3:13 · a strong link
And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
from Zephaniah 2:7
For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
from Obadiah 1:19
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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.
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why he slew him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks.
from I John 3:12 · a strong link
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
from Hebrews 11:4
To what purpose comes there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet to me.
from Proverbs 15:8 · a strong link
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
from Colossians 1:20 · a strong link
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
from I John 4:9
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And shall not God give justice to his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
from Luke 18:7 · a strong link
For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he sees that their power has gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent you concerning your servants.
from Deuteronomy 32:36
And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
from Psalms 90:13
To the director of music, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving devotion: according to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
from Psalms 106:45
To the director of music on Neginoth, A Psalm of David. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: you have enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.
from Psalms 51:1
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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.
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 Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Then Paul answered, What mean you to weep and to break my heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
from Acts 20:24 · a strong link
No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier.
from Acts 21:13
Therefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted by him.
from II Timothy 2:4
Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
from II Corinthians 5:9
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Ecclesiastes 3:10 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