a thread opens
But those riches perish by evil toil: and he begets a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
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.
The LORD kills, and makes alive: he brings down to the grave, and brings up.
from Ecclesiastes 5:14
Come, and let us return to the LORD: for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck, and he will bind us up.
from I Samuel 2:6
O Israel, return to the LORD your God; for you have fallen by your iniquity.
from Hosea 6:1
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.
Speak to Aaron, saying, Whoever he be of your seed in their generations that has any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he has chosen will he cause to come near to him.
from Leviticus 21:17
And the room whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister to him.
from Numbers 16:5
And you shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
from Ezekiel 40:46
And Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire in it from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly to the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.
from Numbers 18:5
Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
from Numbers 16:46
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,
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
from Jude 1:24
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and says of him, Look, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
from John 1:47
And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
from Romans 9:6 · a strong link
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
from Galatians 6:16
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.
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
from Jude 1:11
And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
from Numbers 16:1
The son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah,
from Exodus 6:21
To the director of music, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you people; give ear, all you inhabitants of the world:
from I Chronicles 6:37
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
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
from Colossians 1:20
For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regards not persons, nor takes reward:
from Isaiah 9:6
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?
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
from Luke 18:7
Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
You therefore tuck your cloak into your belt, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound you before them.
from Jeremiah 1:8
Therefore prepare your minds for action, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
from Jeremiah 1:17
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:
from I Peter 1:13 · a strong link
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
from I Peter 5:8 · a strong link
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
He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.
from John 12:25 · a strong link
According to my eager expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
from Matthew 10:39
Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in that name.
from Philippians 1:20
For this reason I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him for that day.
from I Peter 4:16 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Ecclesiastes 5:14 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