a thread opens
Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men before the house.
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 we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:
from Ezekiel 9:6
And when the LORD your God shall deliver them before you; you shall strike them, and utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them:
from Deuteronomy 2:34
However no devoted thing, that a man shall devote to the LORD of all that he has, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD.
from Deuteronomy 7:2
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.
No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
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 21:21
And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma: all the fat is the LORD’s.
from Leviticus 3:11
Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled flesh of you, but raw.
from Leviticus 3:16
And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the LORD; the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat upon the entrails,
from I Samuel 2:15
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,
Now to him that is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
from Ephesians 3:20 · a strong link
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, so that the excellence of the power may be of God, and not of us.
from Ephesians 1:19 · a strong link
For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
from II Corinthians 4:7 · a strong link
For to you it is given for the sake of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
from Ephesians 2:8
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.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
from Jude 1:11
Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from sexual immorality:
from I Corinthians 6:13
Not only while being watched, as people-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
from I Thessalonians 4:3 · a strong link
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
Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
from Psalms 69:34 · a strong link
For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
from Isaiah 49:13
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?
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some men count slowness; but is patience toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
from Luke 18:7
And account that the patience of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given to him has written to you;
from II Peter 3:9
It seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
from II Peter 3:15
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
from Acts 15:25
And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, so that they might come and anoint him.
from Acts 1:14
And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.
from Mark 16:1
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.
He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For whoever will save his life shall lose it; but whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
from John 12:25 · a strong link
Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
from Mark 8:35
For whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
from Luke 17:33
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.
from Matthew 16:25 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Ezekiel 9:6 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