a thread opens
And the angel of the LORD said to her, Look, you are with child, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael; because the LORD has heard your affliction.
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 it happened in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God by reason of the bondage.
from Genesis 16:11
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
from Exodus 2:23
And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.
from Genesis 18:20
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 the room whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister to him.
from Numbers 16:5
To be a memorial to the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
from Ezekiel 40:46
And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.
from Numbers 16:40
Therefore you and your sons with you shall keep your priest’s office for everything of the altar, and within the veil; and you shall serve: I have given your priest’s office to you as a service of gift: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.
from Numbers 3:10
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
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
from Hebrews 13:20
Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord GOD.
from Jeremiah 32:40
And he that keeps his commandments dwells in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.
from Ezekiel 39:29
He who says that he remains in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
from I John 3:24
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.
The look on their faces bears witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.
from Jude 1:11
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
from Isaiah 3:9 · a strong link
And it happened, as Jesus sat at table in the house, look, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
from Genesis 13:13
And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.
from Matthew 9:10
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
from Colossians 1:20
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
from Psalms 85:10
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?
Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.
from Luke 18:7
And she was a widow of about eighty and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
from I Timothy 5:5 · a strong link
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
from Luke 2:37
The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;
from Acts 14:23
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
from II John 1:1
All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.
from I Timothy 2:4
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.
He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
from John 12:25 · a strong link
For whoever will save his life shall lose it: but whoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
from Luke 17:33
Save that the Holy Spirit witnesses in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions remain me.
from Luke 9:24
That no man should be shaken by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are destined for this.
from Acts 20:23
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Genesis 16:11 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