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.
In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return to the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and to dust shall you return.
from Ecclesiastes 3:10
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return to God who gave it.
from Genesis 3:19 · a strong link
Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,
from Ecclesiastes 12:7
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?
from Numbers 27:16 · a strong link
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
from Acts 20:21
I tell you, No: but, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.
from Mark 6:12
Then he went, and took with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also to this wicked generation.
from Luke 13:3
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
from Matthew 12:45
If a man remain not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and has withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
from Hebrews 6:4
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 all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
from Acts 13:38
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 II Corinthians 5:18
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
from Colossians 1:20
Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
from Psalms 85:10
Your people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, so that I may be glorified.
from Isaiah 32:16
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
from Isaiah 60:21
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.
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
from Acts 17:31
Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
from Romans 2:16 · a strong link
How that by revelation he made known to me the mystery; (as I wrote before in few words,
from Romans 16:25
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
From that time forth began Jesus to show to his disciples, how that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
from Matthew 20:19 · a strong link
And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said to them,
from Matthew 16:21
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.
And do not grieve the holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed to the day of redemption.
from Acts 7:51
You have bought me no sweet cane with money, neither have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices: but you have made me to serve with your sins, you have wearied me with your iniquities.
from Ephesians 4:30
And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their immoral heart, which has departed from me, and with their eyes, which prostitute themselves after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
from Isaiah 43:24
And there shall you remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have been defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.
from Ezekiel 6:9 · a strong link
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as a young bull unaccustomed to the yoke: turn me, and I shall be turned; for you are the LORD my God.
from Ezekiel 20:43
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
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
from Acts 9:15 · a strong link
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God,
from Acts 13:2
According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, who was committed to my trust.
from Romans 1:1
But has in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;
from I Timothy 1:11
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;
from Titus 1:3 · a strong link
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