a thread opens
And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far,
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.
Now it happened in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even to Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)
from Esther 9:20
Then were the king’s scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth its day; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, a hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to its writing, and to every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.
from Esther 1:1 · a strong link
For he sent letters into all the king’s provinces, into every province according to its writing, and to every people after their language, so that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be published according to the language of every people.
from Esther 8:9 · a strong link
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 let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
from Leviticus 10:3
And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.
from Exodus 19:22
And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
from Exodus 24:5
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 Exodus 18:12
And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite within your gates; since he has no part nor inheritance with you.
from Deuteronomy 12:7 · a strong link
Therefore Levi has no part nor inheritance with his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD your God promised him.
from Deuteronomy 12:12 · a strong link
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
You are they which have continued with me in my temptations.
from John 17:24
For we have not a high priest which is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
from Luke 22:28
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.
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why he slew him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks.
from I John 3:12 · a strong link
That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar.
from Hebrews 11:4 · a strong link
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it happened, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
from Matthew 23:35
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And every creature in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be to him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever.
from Luke 2:14
And I saw, and, look, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is mute, so he opens not his mouth.
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
To me belongs vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it delays, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay.
from Deuteronomy 32:35
Be patient therefore, brothers, to the coming of the Lord. Look, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
from Habakkuk 2:3 · a strong link
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, to all patience and patience with joyfulness;
from James 5:7
Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
from Colossians 1:11
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
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
from Psalms 73:25
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 Matthew 5:8 · a strong link
For whom he did foreknow, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
from I John 3:2 · a strong link
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
from Romans 8:29 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Esther 9:20 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