a thread opens
And the king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is your petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted you: and what is your request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
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.
Until now have you asked nothing in my name: ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.
from Esther 7:2
You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not.
from John 16:24 · a strong link
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you:
from James 4:2
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
Blessed is the man whom you choose, and cause to approach to you, so that he may dwell in your courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, even of your holy temple.
from Leviticus 21:17
They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of your house; and you shall make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
from Psalms 65:4 · a strong link
Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
from Psalms 36:8 · a strong link
And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
from Jeremiah 31:12
He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD has spoken it.
from Isaiah 65:19
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,
Now to him that is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
And I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches, and honor: so that there shall not be any among the kings like you all your days.
from Ephesians 3:20 · a strong link
But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
from I Kings 3:13 · a strong link
And be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
from Matthew 6:33 · a strong link
But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
from Philippians 3:9 · 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.
The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
from Luke 2:14
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
from Acts 10:36
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad.
from Acts 2:36
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
And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.
from Psalms 88:1
For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations around.
from I Chronicles 2:6
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the farthest parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed, a greater than Solomon is here.
from I Kings 4:31
Has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
from Matthew 12:42
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if perhaps we suffer with him, so that we may be also glorified together.
from Hebrews 1:2
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
Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
from John 12:25 · a strong link
For whoever will save his life shall lose it; but whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
from Luke 17:33 · a strong link
Do not therefore be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but share in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God;
from Mark 8:35
But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.
from II Timothy 1:8
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Esther 7:2 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