a thread opens
He that smites a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.
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.
Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
from Exodus 21:12
It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.
from Numbers 35:30
Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?
from John 8:17
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.
No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
from Leviticus 21:21
And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
Neither from a stranger’s hand shall you offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.
from Leviticus 3:11
You shall sanctify him therefore; for he offers the bread of your God: he shall be holy to you: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.
from Leviticus 22:25
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, with which he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite to the Spirit of grace?
from Leviticus 21:8
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 of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
from Jude 1:24
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
from Romans 16:25
But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness;
from II Corinthians 4:5
And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother, Look, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
from I Corinthians 1:23
But we desire to hear of you what you think: for as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against.
from Luke 2:34
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.
Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
And said, O full of all deceit and all mischief, you child of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
from II Peter 2:15
Woe to you, lawyers! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in you hindered.
from Acts 13:10
And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said to him, Master, rebuke your disciples.
from Luke 11:52
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do.
from Luke 2:14
And whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
from John 17:4
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 John 14:13 · a strong link
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?
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some men count slowness; but is patience toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
from Luke 18:7
For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not delay.
from II Peter 3:9 · a strong link
Come, my people, enter you into your rooms, and shut your doors about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
from Hebrews 10:37
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings,
from Isaiah 26:20 · a strong link
For thus says the LORD of hosts; After the glory has he sent me to the nations which plundered you: for he that touches you touches the apple of his eye.
from Psalms 17:8
Thus says the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with an insolent heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;
from Zechariah 2:8
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.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith:
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you are also called, and have professed a good profession before many witnesses.
from II Timothy 4:7 · a strong link
Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, so that they may lay hold on eternal life.
from I Timothy 6:12
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
from I Timothy 6:19
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Exodus 21:12 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