a thread opens
For Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
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 he said, I will certainly return to you according to the time of life; and, look, Sarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
from Genesis 21:2
But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear to you at this set time in the next year.
from Genesis 18:10 · a strong link
And the LORD appeared to him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell you of:
from Genesis 17:21
Now the LORD had said to Abram, Get you out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you:
from Genesis 26:2 · a strong link
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing where he went.
from Genesis 12:1 · a strong link
a thread opens
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
Look, you are of nothing, and your work of nothing: an abomination is he that chooses you.
from I Corinthians 8:4
Look, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their cast images are wind and confusion.
from Isaiah 41:24
And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done to them.
from Isaiah 41:29
Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! look, the prophets say to them, You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
from Jeremiah 5:13
a thread opens
By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
from John 3:16 · a strong link
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
from John 1:14 · a strong link
a thread opens
But the anointing which you have received of him remains in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall remain in him.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
from I John 2:27
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
from Hebrews 8:10 · a strong link
For finding fault with them, he says, Look, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
from Hebrews 10:16 · a strong link
Look, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
from Hebrews 8:8 · a strong link
Look, the days come, says the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that sows seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
from Jeremiah 31:31
Say not you, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? look, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
from Amos 9:13
a thread opens
And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, varieties of tongues.
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
from I Corinthians 12:28 · a strong link
But watch you in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
from Ephesians 4:11 · a strong link
Let no man despise your youth; but be an example of the believers, in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
from II Timothy 4:5
And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
from I Timothy 4:12
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
from I Timothy 1:14
a thread opens
I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly to you.
They that are of a perverse heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.
from I Chronicles 29:17
א ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
from Proverbs 11:20
But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
from Psalms 119:1
If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.
from James 1:25 · a strong link
a thread opens
Clean out therefore the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;
from I Corinthians 5:7
Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
from I Corinthians 15:3
Obey your leaders, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
from Ezekiel 3:17
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Genesis 21:2 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