a thread opens
And you shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and its height shall be three cubits.
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 he made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood: five cubits was its length, and five cubits its breadth; it was foursquare; and three cubits its height.
from Exodus 27:1
We have an altar, of which they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
from Exodus 38:1
Do you not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
from Hebrews 13:10
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 said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
from Leviticus 10:3
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you, and your fellows that sit before you: for they are men wondered at: for, look, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
from Isaiah 49:3
Look, the days come, says the LORD, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
from Zechariah 3:8 · a strong link
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: look, your King comes to you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt the foal of a donkey.
from Jeremiah 23:5
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest to your souls.
from Zechariah 9:9 · a strong link
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him;
from Matthew 11:29
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,
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
from Jude 1:24
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
from Ephesians 5:27
For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
from Hebrews 9:14 · a strong link
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin to salvation.
from I Peter 3:18 · 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 in process of time it happened, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
from Jude 1:11
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer to the LORD, them have I given you.
from Genesis 4:3
The firstfruit also of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, shall you give him.
from Numbers 18:12
You shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the firstfruits to the LORD.
from Deuteronomy 18:4
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
from Colossians 1:20
Let not mercy and truth forsake you: bind them about your neck; write them upon the tablet of your heart:
from Psalms 85:10
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?
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great reward.
from Luke 18:7
Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so they persecuted the prophets before you.
from Hebrews 10:35
Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, so that they may appear to men to fast. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.
from Matthew 5:12
When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
from Matthew 6:16
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into my own bosom.
from Psalms 69:10
And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
from Psalms 35:13 · a strong link
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
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
from John 12:25
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus:
from Acts 20:24
Even as the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
from Romans 3:24
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
from Matthew 20:28
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Exodus 27:1 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