a thread opens
And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
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.
Therefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they swore both of them.
from Genesis 26:33
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
from Genesis 21:31
They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
from Genesis 21:14
He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
from Psalms 107:4
And know his will, and approve the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
from Deuteronomy 32:10
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.
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
from I Corinthians 8:4
You believe that there is one God; you do well: the demons also believe, and tremble.
from Mark 12:29
And the evil spirit answered, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?
from James 2:19
When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God most high? I beg you, torment me not.
from Acts 19:15
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.
As the Father knows me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
from I John 3:16
Who gave himself for our sins, so that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
from John 10:15
You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is hostility with God? whoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
from Galatians 1:4
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.
But the Helper, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.
from I John 2:27 · a strong link
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 John 14:26 · a strong link
And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
from Titus 3:5 · a strong link
Love not the world, neither the things in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
from Romans 12:2 · a strong link
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
from I John 2:15 · a strong link
But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
from Galatians 1:10 · a strong link
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.
Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.
from I Corinthians 12:28
For I am the least of the apostles, that am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
from Acts 20:28
Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power.
from I Corinthians 15:9
To which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.
from Ephesians 3:7
And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
from Colossians 1:29 · a strong link
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.
I the LORD search the heart, I try the inmost thoughts, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
from I Chronicles 29:17 · a strong link
The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD tries the hearts.
from Jeremiah 17:10
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
from Proverbs 17:3
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience.
from I Peter 1:7
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:
That you put off your old self, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
from I Corinthians 5:7
Therefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all slander,
from Ephesians 4:22 · a strong link
Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile.
from I Peter 2:1
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Genesis 26:33 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