a thread opens
I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
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.
The diseased have you not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them.
from Ezekiel 34:16
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
from Ezekiel 34:4
You eat the fat, and you clothe yourselves with the wool, you kill them that are fed: but you feed not the flock.
from Matthew 9:36
Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.
from Ezekiel 34:3
All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.
from Zechariah 11:5 · a strong link
a thread opens
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
from I Corinthians 8:4
To you it was shown, so that you might know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.
from Deuteronomy 4:39 · a strong link
For thus says the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he has established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
from Deuteronomy 4:35 · a strong link
And the earth was formless and empty; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
from Isaiah 45:18
a thread opens
By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you.
from I John 3:16
But as for brotherly love you need not that I write to you: for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
from John 15:12
Let brotherly love continue.
from I Thessalonians 4:9
a thread opens
But the anointing which you have received of him remains in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall remain in him.
As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk you in him:
from I John 2:27
Watch yourselves, that we do not lose what we have worked for, but that we receive a full reward.
from Colossians 2:6
Now he that plants and he that waters are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.
from II John 1:8 · a strong link
Also to you, O Lord, belongs mercy: for you render to every man according to his work.
from I Corinthians 3:8
Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
from Psalms 62:12
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
from Romans 2:6
a thread opens
And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, varieties of tongues.
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.
from I Corinthians 12:28
Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and honor such people:
from I Timothy 5:17 · a strong link
For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge you them that are such.
from Philippians 2:29 · a strong link
For we have great joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.
from I Corinthians 16:18
Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
from Philemon 1:7
a thread opens
I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly to you.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and says of him, Look, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
from I Chronicles 29:17
Not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
from John 1:47
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
from Romans 9:6 · a strong link
And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say to you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
from Romans 2:28 · a strong link
a thread opens
Clean out therefore the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;
from I Corinthians 5:7
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
from I Corinthians 15:3
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 I Peter 1:11
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Ezekiel 34:16 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