a thread opens
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
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 declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tablets of stone.
from Exodus 34:28 · a strong link
And the LORD said to Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give you tablets of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that you may teach them.
from Deuteronomy 4:13
And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand: the tablets were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
from Exodus 24:12
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.
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 10:3
And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
But you have profaned it, in that you say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and its fruit, even his food, is contemptible.
from Leviticus 18:21
But you have departed out of the way; you have caused many to stumble at the law; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts.
from Malachi 1:12
Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.
from Malachi 2:8
My God, think you upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.
from Nehemiah 13:29 · 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,
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight:
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
Therefore, my brothers, you also have become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, so that we should bring forth fruit to God.
from Colossians 1:22
Having abolished in his flesh the hostility, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; to make in himself of two one new man, so making peace;
from Romans 7:4
And have put on the new self, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
from Ephesians 2:15
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.
from Colossians 3:10 · 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 the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:
from Jude 1:11
These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.
from Numbers 26:9 · a strong link
That the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, offered:
from Numbers 1:16 · a strong link
And his princes gave willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.
from Numbers 7:2
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
from Luke 2:14
But to the Son he says, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.
from Isaiah 9:6
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
from Hebrews 1:8
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
Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
from Jeremiah 17:18 · a strong link
Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
from Psalms 35:4
Therefore it shall happen, that when the Lord has performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
from Psalms 129:5
Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Look, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
from Isaiah 10:12
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.
Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
from Luke 14:26
And they sent out to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God in truth, neither care you for any man: for you regard not the person of men.
from Deuteronomy 33:9
And the Pharisees went forth, and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
from Matthew 22:16 · a strong link
And they send to him some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.
from Mark 3:6 · a strong link
And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, so that they might take hold of his words, so that so they might deliver him to the power and authority of the governor.
from Mark 12:13
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Exodus 34:28 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