a thread opens
And you, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God, that is in your hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people beyond the river, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach you them that know them not.
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.
For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
from Ezra 7:25
Then they said, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
from Malachi 2:7
But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy its tree with the fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
from Jeremiah 18:18 · a strong link
And at the season he sent a servant to the farmers, so that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the farmers beat him, and sent him away empty.
from Jeremiah 11:19
And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up early, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
from Luke 20:10
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.
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
from I Corinthians 8:4
Seeing it is one God, who shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
from Mark 12:29
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
from Romans 3:30
Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; look, all things have become new.
from Galatians 6:15 · a strong link
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.
Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
from Philippians 2:17 · a strong link
You are not straitened in us, but you are straitened in your own bowels.
from II Corinthians 12:15
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.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
from I John 2:27
But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he has prepared for them a city.
from Hebrews 8:10
Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
from Hebrews 11:16 · a strong link
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying to me, Do not fear; I am the first and the last:
from Exodus 3:6
Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
from Revelation of John 1:17 · a strong link
Listen to me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
from Isaiah 41:4 · a strong link
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.
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
from I Corinthians 12:28 · a strong link
Which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
from Ephesians 4:11
And he said to them, You know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to associate, or come to one of another nation; but God has showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
from Ephesians 3:5
Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the Passover.
from Acts 10:28
And immediately in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.
from John 18:28
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
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
from John 1:47
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight:
Who gave himself for us, so that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works.
from Colossians 1:22
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:
The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
from I Corinthians 5:7
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin to salvation.
from John 1:29
And it shall be said in that day, Look, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
from Hebrews 9:28
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Ezra 7:25 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