The Vigil

from Ezra 10:6

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.

a thread opens

Ezra 10:6

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the room of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came there, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

Nehemiah 12:22

The Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, were recorded heads of the fathers' houses: also the priests, to the reign of Darius the Persian.

from Ezra 10:6

Nehemiah 12:26

These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe.

from Nehemiah 12:10


a thread opens

Leviticus 10:3

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.

Exodus 19:22

And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.

from Leviticus 10:3

Exodus 24:5

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

Exodus 18:12

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

Exodus 24:11

And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

from Exodus 18:12

Exodus 19:21

And the LORD said to Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through to the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.

from Exodus 24:11

Exodus 3:5

And he said, Draw not near here: take off your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.

from Exodus 19:21


a thread opens

Jude 1:24

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,

Ephesians 5:27

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

from Jude 1:24 · a strong link

Ephesians 1:4

According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, so that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

from Ephesians 5:27 · a strong link

Revelation of John 13:8

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

from Ephesians 1:4

Revelation of John 21:27

And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles, neither whatever works abomination, or makes a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

from Revelation of John 13:8 · a strong link

Joel 3:17

So shall you know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

from Revelation of John 21:27


a thread opens

Jude 1:11

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.

II Peter 2:15

Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

from Jude 1:11 · a strong link

Micah 6:5

O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Acacia to Gilgal; that you may know the righteousness of the LORD.

from II Peter 2:15

Judges 5:11

They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates.

from Micah 6:5

I Samuel 12:7

Now therefore stand still, so that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.

from Judges 5:11


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

John 17:4

I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do.

from Luke 2:14

John 15:10

If you keep my commandments, you shall remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love.

from John 17:4

I Thessalonians 4:1

Furthermore then we beg you, brothers, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as you have received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, so you would abound more and more.

from John 15:10


a thread opens

Luke 18:7

And shall not God give justice to his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?

Isaiah 27:1

In that day the LORD with his grievous and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon in the sea.

from Deuteronomy 32:41

Revelation of John 12:3

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and look, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

from Isaiah 27:1

Revelation of John 17:8

The beast that you saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the abyss, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

from Revelation of John 17:7


a thread opens

Luke 14:26

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.

Philippians 3:8

Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as rubbish, so that I may win Christ,

from Luke 14:26 · a strong link

John 17:3

And this is life eternal, so that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

from Philippians 3:8 · a strong link

Hosea 6:3

Then shall we know, if we press on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain to the earth.

from John 17:3

Psalms 72:6

He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.

from Hosea 6:3 · a strong link

Deuteronomy 32:2

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

from Psalms 72:6 · a strong link

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Ezra 10:6 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