a thread opens
But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God.
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.
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
from Ezra 5:13
He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.
from Ezra 1:1
And I will show mercies to you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
from Psalms 106:46 · a strong link
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 say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Look, I am against you, O Sidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of you: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
from Leviticus 10:3
Yes, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, says the Lord GOD.
from Ezekiel 28:22
Look, at that time I will undo all that afflict you: and I will save her who limps, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.
from Ezekiel 39:13
Therefore all they that devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that plunder you shall be a plunder, and all that prey upon you will I give for a prey.
from Zephaniah 3:19
But if you shall indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.
from Jeremiah 30:16
He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesses you, and cursed is he that curses you.
from Exodus 23:22
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,
And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
from Jude 1:24
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
from II Timothy 4:18 · a strong link
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation:
from Romans 11:36
In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine to them.
from Colossians 1:15 · a strong link
In which formerly you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience:
from II Corinthians 4:4 · a strong link
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.
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
Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
from II Peter 2:15
Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, so that he should curse them: however our God turned the curse into a blessing.
from Deuteronomy 23:4
Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because the LORD your God loved you.
from Nehemiah 13:2
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do.
from Luke 2:14
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 John 17:4
For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.
from Acts 20:24 · 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?
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
from Luke 18:7 · a strong link
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
Call together the archers against Babylon: all you that bend the bow, camp against it around; let none of it escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her: for she has been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.
from Jeremiah 51:49
Because the spoiler has come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely repay.
from Jeremiah 50:29
Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is in it, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come to her from the north, says the LORD.
from Jeremiah 51:56
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.
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 Luke 14:26 · a strong link
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tent of meeting; and shall pour all the blood of the young bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tent of meeting.
And he shall go out to the altar before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the young bull, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar all around.
from Leviticus 4:7 · a strong link
And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar before the LORD, that is in the tent of meeting, and shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tent of meeting.
from Leviticus 16:18
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Ezra 5:13 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