a thread opens
Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD in Jerusalem:
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 kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
from Ezra 7:27 · a strong link
And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments to the LORD.
from Ezra 6:22
Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
from II Chronicles 30:21 · 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.
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 10:3
And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or a fortune-teller, or a spellcaster, or a sorceress,
from Leviticus 18:21
Many of them also which used sorcery brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
from Deuteronomy 18:10
And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
from Acts 19:19
And I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire, and crushed it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast its dust into the brook that descended out of the mount.
from Exodus 32:20
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
You shall guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
from II Timothy 4:18
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.
from Psalms 73:24
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he breathed his last.
from Psalms 49:15
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
from Luke 23:46 · 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.
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
from Jude 1:11
And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred thirty-three years.
from Numbers 16:1
And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
from Exodus 6:18
And the sons of Kohath were, Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel.
from Numbers 3:19
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
For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
from Psalms 69:34
Let the sea roar, and its fullness; the world, and they that dwell in it.
from Isaiah 55:12
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?
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great reward.
from Luke 18:7
Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so they persecuted the prophets before you.
from Hebrews 10:35
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience;
from Matthew 5:12 · a strong link
Therefore I desire that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
from Romans 5:3 · a strong link
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
from Ephesians 3:13
Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
from Isaiah 40:30
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
Since therefore the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
from Hebrews 2:14
Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
from I Timothy 3:16
Now the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of sincere faith:
from I Timothy 3:9
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Ezra 7:27 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