a thread opens
Therefore it shall happen, when the Egyptians shall see you, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save you alive.
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 the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, he said, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
from Genesis 12:12
Say, please, you are my sister: that it may be well with me for your sake; and my soul shall live because of you.
from Genesis 26:7 · a strong link
Said he not to me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands have I done this.
from Genesis 12:13
And if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my judgments:
from Genesis 20:5
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
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 Acts 20:21
And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles, neither whatever works abomination, or makes a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
from Acts 26:18
Awake, awake; put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for from now on there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.
from Revelation of John 21:27 · a strong link
For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.
from Isaiah 52:1
Inquire, please, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us; if perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
from Isaiah 48:2
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
Him has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
from Acts 13:38
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
from Acts 5:31
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit;
from Zechariah 12:10
Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
from Titus 3:5 · a strong link
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, so that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calls;)
from II Timothy 1:9
(As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead, and calls those things which are not as though they were.
from Romans 9:11
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.
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
from Acts 17:31
Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
from II Peter 3:7
And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off: it is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
from Matthew 25:41
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,
And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
from Matthew 27:2
And to the others he said in my hearing, Go after him through the city, and strike: let not your eye spare, neither have you pity:
from Luke 13:1
Therefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD; Surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore will I also diminish you; neither shall my eye spare, neither will I have any pity.
from Ezekiel 9:5
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.
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
from Acts 7:51
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
from Jeremiah 4:4 · a strong link
And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say to you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
from Romans 2:28 · a strong link
Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall your seed be called.
from Matthew 3:9
And God said to Abraham, Let it not be grievous in your sight because of the lad, and because of your slave woman; in all that Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac shall your seed be called.
from Romans 9:7 · 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
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,
from I Timothy 2:7
Now the things which I write to you, look, before God, I lie not.
from Romans 9:1 · a strong link
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knows that I lie not.
from Galatians 1:20
Who exchanged the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
from II Corinthians 11:31
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Genesis 12:12 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