a thread opens
They eagerly court you, but not well; yes, they would exclude you, that you might court them.
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 through greed shall they with fabricated words exploit you: whose judgment now of a long time is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
from Galatians 4:17
Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent to you?
from II Peter 2:3
I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?
from II Corinthians 12:17
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.
Speak to Aaron, saying, Whoever he be of your seed in their generations that has any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he has chosen will he cause to come near to him.
from Leviticus 21:17
And take to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, so that he may minister to me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
from Numbers 16:5
And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bore him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
from Exodus 28:1
And Hezron fathered Ram, and Ram fathered Amminadab,
from Exodus 6:23 · a strong link
And Aram fathered Aminadab; and Aminadab fathered Naasson; and Naasson fathered Salmon;
from Ruth 4:19
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,
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
from Jude 1:24
Whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be held of it.
from Hebrews 13:20 · a strong link
And God has both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
from Acts 2:24 · a strong link
And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
from I Corinthians 6:14
To which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.
from Ephesians 1:19 · 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
And said, O full of all deceit and all mischief, you child of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
from II Peter 2:15
Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall into it.
from Acts 13:10 · a strong link
And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother, Look, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
from Hosea 14:9
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in me.
from Luke 1:79
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 Acts 26:18 · 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?
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some men count slowness; but is patience toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
from Luke 18:7
For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not delay.
from II Peter 3:9 · a strong link
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it delays, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay.
from Hebrews 10:37 · a strong link
Be patient therefore, brothers, to the coming of the Lord. Look, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
from Habakkuk 2:3 · a strong link
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that gives rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
from James 5:7 · a strong link
That you may be the children of your Father in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
from Jeremiah 5:24
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.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Because your loving devotion is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
from Psalms 73:25 · a strong link
For his anger endures but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
from Psalms 63:3
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
from Psalms 30:5 · a strong link
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience;
from II Corinthians 4:17 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Galatians 4:17 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