a thread opens
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.
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 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.
from Exodus 38:1
An altar of earth you shall make to me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings, and your peace offerings, your sheep, and your oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come to you, and I will bless you.
from Exodus 27:1
For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the pagans, says the LORD of hosts.
from Exodus 20:24
And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles in the distance, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
from Malachi 1:11
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent you, and believe the gospel.
from Acts 20:21
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
from Mark 1:15 · a strong link
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
from Matthew 4:17 · a strong link
And said to his servants, This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him.
from Mark 1:14
And they said, Some say that you are John the Baptist: some, Elijah; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
from Matthew 14:2
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
from Acts 13:38 · a strong link
Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
from Luke 24:47
You love righteousness, and hate wickedness: therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
from Daniel 9:24
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
from Psalms 45:7
I have come a light into the world, so that whoever believes on me should not remain in darkness.
from Luke 4:18
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
from John 12:46
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
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a roar, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works in it shall be burned up.
from II Peter 3:7 · a strong link
And this know, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.
from II Peter 3:10 · a strong link
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 came and touched the bier: and they that bore him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say to you, 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.
And that I also have walked contrary to them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
from Acts 7:51 · a strong link
However Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
from Leviticus 26:41
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
from II Chronicles 32:26
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time:
from James 4:10
A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.
from I Peter 5:6 · a strong link
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
To which I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
from Acts 9:15
Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power.
from I Timothy 2:7
If you have heard of the administration of the grace of God which is given me toward you:
from Ephesians 3:7
But to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
from Ephesians 3:2
And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and immediately took his journey.
from Ephesians 4:7
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Exodus 38:1 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