a thread opens
And they worked onyx stones enclosed in settings of gold, carved, as signets are carved, with the names of the children of Israel.
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 take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:
from Exodus 39:6
You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the handiwork of your tabrets and of your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created.
from Exodus 28:9
Your pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of your lyres: the worm is spread under you, and the worms cover you.
from Ezekiel 28:13
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 let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
from Leviticus 10:3
And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.
from Exodus 19:22
And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
from Exodus 24:5
Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brothers to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and stayed all night in the mount.
from Exodus 18:12
And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
from Genesis 31:54
And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in to him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
from Genesis 26:30
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,
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
from Jude 1:24
I have manifested your name to the men which you gave me out of the world: yours they were, and you gave them me; and they have kept your word.
from John 10:29
He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
from John 17:6
But whoever keeps his word, in him truly is the love of God perfected: by this we know that we are in him.
from John 14:21 · a strong link
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
from I John 2:5
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
And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.
from Numbers 1:16
And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
from Numbers 1:4
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moves in it.
from Luke 2:14
For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
from Psalms 69:34
Go forth of Babylon, flee you from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare you, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say, The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob.
from Isaiah 55:12 · 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?
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great reward.
from Luke 18:7
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
from Hebrews 10:35 · a strong link
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
from Hebrews 3:6
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 Romans 5:2 · a strong link
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has he reconciled
from I Peter 3:18
And you has he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
from Colossians 1:21
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.
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 Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom now I send you,
from Acts 20:24
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office:
from Acts 26:17
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 Romans 11:13 · 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
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Exodus 39:6 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