a thread opens
Also of the temple servants, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty temple servants: all of them were expressed by name.
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 there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the temple servants, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
from Ezra 8:20
These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.
from Ezra 7:7
These heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites were chief throughout their generations; these dwelt at Jerusalem.
from Ezra 8:1
And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities.
from I Chronicles 9:34
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
But showed first to them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, so that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.
from Acts 20:21
But go and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
from Acts 26:20
To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
from Matthew 9:13 · a strong link
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
from Proverbs 21:3 · a strong link
I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not delight in your solemn assemblies.
from Proverbs 15:8
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
from Acts 13:38 · a strong link
And he said, It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.
from Luke 24:47
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for a banner of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
from Isaiah 49:6 · a strong link
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to me.
from Isaiah 11:10 · a strong link
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, so that all men through him might believe.
from John 12:32
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
from John 1:7
a thread opens
Because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
from Acts 17:31
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
from Matthew 25:31
Say to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
from Matthew 16:27 · a strong link
a thread opens
For truly against your holy child Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
By stretching forth your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of your holy child Jesus.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
from Acts 4:30
And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have you done this?
from Acts 3:6
Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you whole.
from Acts 4:7
a thread opens
You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you.
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
from Acts 7:51
Hear this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.
from Romans 2:28
That he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes.
from Isaiah 48:1
And you shall swear, The LORD lives, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
from Isaiah 65:16
But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD which exercise loving devotion, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says the LORD.
from Jeremiah 4:2 · a strong link
a thread opens
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
But the Lord said to him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
from Acts 22:21 · a strong link
To which I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
from Acts 9:15
To which I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
from I Timothy 2:7 · a strong link
Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor of which they affirm.
from II Timothy 1:11
But these, as irrational animals, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
from I Timothy 1:7 · a strong link
But you, O LORD, know me: you have seen me, and tried my heart toward you: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
from II Peter 2:12 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Ezra 8:20 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