a thread opens
And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name, according to the twelve tribes.
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 had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on it, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
from Exodus 39:14
And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed a hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred million: and I heard the number of them.
from Revelation of John 7:4 · a strong link
And I will turn you back, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love to all the saints,
from Acts 20:21
We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
from Ephesians 1:15
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
from Colossians 1:3
Therefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
from Colossians 1:9
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
from II Thessalonians 1:11 · a strong link
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 all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
from Acts 13:38
And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
from II Corinthians 5:18
And this spoke he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;
from I John 2:2 · a strong link
And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.
from John 11:51
And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, please, bring me here the ephod. And Abiathar brought there the ephod to David.
from Exodus 28:30
And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.
from I Samuel 30:7
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.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
from Acts 17:31
But the LORD shall endure for ever: he has prepared his throne for judgment.
from Matthew 25:31
I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: your years are throughout all generations.
from Psalms 9:7
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
There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
from Matthew 27:2
Look, O LORD, and consider to whom you have done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
from Luke 13:1
The hands of the compassionate women have boiled their own children: they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
from Lamentations 2:20 · a strong link
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 they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke.
from Acts 7:51
For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
from Acts 6:10
Then Agrippa said to Paul, Almost you persuade me to be a Christian.
from Luke 21:15
And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it happened, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
from Acts 26:28
Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in that name.
from Acts 11:26
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
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
from Acts 9:15 · a strong link
And from there sailed to Antioch, from where they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
from Acts 13:2
And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brothers to the grace of God.
from Acts 14:26 · a strong link
Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers:
from Acts 15:40
By Silvanus, a faithful brother to you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.
from Acts 15:22
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Exodus 39:14 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