a thread opens
The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
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.
When you lie down, you shall not be afraid: yes, you shall lie down, and your sleep shall be sweet.
from Ecclesiastes 5:12
When you go, it shall lead you; when you sleep, it shall keep you; and when you awake, it shall talk with you.
from Proverbs 3:24 · a strong link
Discretion shall preserve you, understanding shall keep you:
from Proverbs 6:22
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.
And said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
from Leviticus 10:3
Look, my servant, whom I uphold; my elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
from Isaiah 49:3
For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God: for God gives not the Spirit by measure to him.
from Isaiah 42:1
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
from John 3:34 · a strong link
Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust.
from John 3:17
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
from John 5:45
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,
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
from Jude 1:24
All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.
from John 10:29
Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am; that they may see my glory, which you have given me: for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
from John 6:37 · a strong link
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
from John 17:24 · a strong link
Whereby are given to us exceedingly great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world through lust.
from I John 3:2 · 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.
And the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:
from Jude 1:11
These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.
from Numbers 26:9 · a strong link
Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: the ruler of the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah:
from Numbers 1:16
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moves in it.
from Luke 2:14
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and its fullness.
from Psalms 69:34 · a strong link
Let the sea roar, and its fullness; the world, and they that dwell in it.
from Psalms 96:11
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
Be merciful to me, O Lord: for I cry to you daily.
from Psalms 88:1
To the director of music, Al-taschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave. Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me: for my soul trusts in you: yes, in the shadow of your wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.
from Psalms 86:3 · a strong link
The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to trust.
from Psalms 57:1
For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? therefore the LORD reward you good for that you have done to me this day.
from Ruth 2:12 · a strong link
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink:
from I Samuel 24:19
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.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Because your loving devotion is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
from Psalms 73:25 · a strong link
For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
from Psalms 63:3
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
from Philippians 1:23 · a strong link
Therefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted by him.
from II Corinthians 5:8
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Ecclesiastes 5:12 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