a thread opens
And every firstling of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among your children shall you redeem.
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.
Everything that opens the matrix in all flesh, which they bring to the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be yours: nevertheless the firstborn of man shall you surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shall you redeem.
from Exodus 13:13
Sanctify to me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.
from Numbers 18:15
Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD.
from Exodus 13:2 · a strong link
Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD’s firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the LORD’s.
from Numbers 3:13
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance to life.
from Acts 20:21
And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said to him, You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
from Acts 11:18
I am truly a man who am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as you all are this day.
from Acts 21:20 · a strong link
Then there arose some of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
from Acts 22:3
But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues you shall be beaten: and you shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
from Acts 6:9
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
Him has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
from Acts 13:38
And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
from Acts 5:31
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 I John 4:14
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
from John 1:14 · a strong link
Even as the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
from John 6:51
Though he were a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered;
from Matthew 20:28 · a strong link
a thread opens
Because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
from Acts 17:31
Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
from II Peter 3:7
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh.
from Matthew 25:41
a thread opens
For truly against your holy child Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
I give you charge in the sight of God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
from Matthew 27:2
For as the Father raises up the dead, and gives them life; even so the Son gives life to whom he will.
from I Timothy 6:13
And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.
from John 5:21
a thread opens
You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you.
To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
from Acts 7:51
We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
from Acts 7:39
And the children of Israel said to them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of food, and when we did eat bread to the full; for you have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
from Numbers 11:5 · a strong link
They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.
from Exodus 16:3 · a strong link
And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.
from Lamentations 4:9
a thread opens
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
But the Lord said to him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
from Acts 22:21 · a strong link
At my first defense no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
from Acts 9:15
And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
from II Timothy 4:16 · a strong link
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid to his fathers, and saw corruption:
from Acts 7:60
Men and brothers, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
from Acts 13:36 · a strong link
After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Beth-zur, to the place opposite the tombs of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty.
from Acts 2:29
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Exodus 13:13 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