The Vigil

from Esther 3:8

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.

a thread opens

Esther 3:8

And Haman said to king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.

Leviticus 26:33

And I will scatter you among the pagans, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

from Esther 3:8

Zechariah 7:14

But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

from Leviticus 26:33 · a strong link

Deuteronomy 28:64

And the LORD shall scatter you among all people, from the one end of the earth even to the other; and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known, even wood and stone.

from Zechariah 7:14


a thread opens

Leviticus 10:3

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.

II Samuel 16:10

And the king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD has said to him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Why have you done so?

from Psalms 39:9

Romans 9:20

No but, O man, who are you that reply against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me thus?

from II Samuel 16:10

Job 6:26

Do you imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?

from Job 16:3

Job 8:2

How long will you speak these things? and how long shall the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?

from Job 6:26


a thread opens

Jude 1:24

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,

John 10:29

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

Exodus 18:11

Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing in which they dealt proudly he was above them.

from John 10:29

Exodus 15:11

Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

from Exodus 18:11 · a strong link

Psalms 89:5

And the heavens shall praise your wonders, O LORD: your faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

from Exodus 15:11


a thread opens

Jude 1:11

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.

Isaiah 3:9

The look on their faces bears witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.

from Jude 1:11

Genesis 13:13

But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

from Isaiah 3:9 · a strong link

Genesis 18:20

And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

from Genesis 13:13

Genesis 19:13

For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is grown great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.

from Genesis 18:20


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Psalms 85:9

Surely his salvation is near them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.

from Luke 2:14

John 1:14

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 Psalms 85:9

I Peter 2:4

To whom coming, as to a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

from John 1:14


a thread opens

Luke 18:7

And shall not God give justice to his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?

I Timothy 5:5

Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.

from Luke 18:7

Luke 2:37

And she was a widow of about eighty and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

from I Timothy 5:5 · a strong link

Acts 14:23

And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

from Luke 2:37

Acts 20:32

And now, brothers, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

from Acts 14:23

Acts 26:18

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in me.

from Acts 20:32 · a strong link

I Peter 1:4

To an inheritance imperishable, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you,

from Acts 26:18


a thread opens

Luke 14:26

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.

Philippians 3:8

Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as rubbish, so that I may win Christ,

from Luke 14:26 · a strong link

Hebrews 3:6

But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

from Hebrews 3:14 · a strong link

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Esther 3:8 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