a thread opens
Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.
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.
And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite within your gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD your God has chosen to place his name there.
from Esther 9:19
And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.
from Deuteronomy 16:11 · a strong link
And you shall take you on the first day the boughs of fine trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.
from Deuteronomy 12:7 · a strong link
And you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within your gates.
from Leviticus 23:40
And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
from Deuteronomy 16:14
a thread opens
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
from I Corinthians 8:4
To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
from Mark 12:29
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
from Jude 1:25 · a strong link
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your mercy, and for your truth’s sake.
from Romans 11:36
a thread opens
By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
As the Father knows me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
from I John 3:16
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
from John 10:15
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the plunder with the strong; because he has poured out his soul to death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
from Isaiah 53:10
a thread opens
But the anointing which you have received of him remains in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall remain in him.
For we have not followed cleverly devised myths, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
from I John 2:27
That we from now on be no more children, tossed back and forth, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the craftiness of men, and crafty scheming, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
from II Peter 1:16
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
from Ephesians 4:14
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder,
from Matthew 24:24
Therefore listen not you to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your spellcasters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon:
from Deuteronomy 13:1
And when they shall say to you, Seek to mediums, and to spiritists that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek to their God? for the living to the dead?
from Jeremiah 27:9
a thread opens
And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, varieties of tongues.
Greet all your leaders, and all the saints. They of Italy greet you.
from I Corinthians 12:28 · a strong link
Remember your leaders, who have spoken to you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conduct.
from Hebrews 13:24 · a strong link
And you became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit:
from Hebrews 13:7
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith,
from I Thessalonians 1:6 · a strong link
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end eternal life.
from Galatians 5:22 · a strong link
a thread opens
I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly to you.
I the LORD search the heart, I try the inmost thoughts, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
from I Chronicles 29:17 · a strong link
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
from Jeremiah 17:10 · a strong link
Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my inmost thoughts and my heart.
from Psalms 139:23 · a strong link
Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God tries the hearts and inmost thoughts.
from Psalms 26:2 · a strong link
a thread opens
Clean out therefore the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
from I Corinthians 5:7
Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say to him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
from John 1:29
I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
from Hosea 14:2
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Esther 9:19 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