a thread opens
And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and indeed, now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Have you not reserved a blessing for me?
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 after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
from Genesis 27:36 · a strong link
And it happened, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.
from Genesis 25:26
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.
And said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
from Leviticus 10:3
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
from Isaiah 49:3
And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.
from I Peter 2:9 · a strong link
And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.
from Isaiah 66:21 · a strong link
And to make you high above all nations which he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, as he has spoken.
from Exodus 19:6 · a strong link
And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and you shall be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
from Deuteronomy 26:19
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,
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
from Jude 1:24
All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.
from John 10:29
Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
from John 6:37
Who is a God like you, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retains not his anger for ever, because he delights in mercy.
from Isaiah 1:18 · a strong link
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
from Micah 7:18
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.
And in process of time it happened, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
from Jude 1:11
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer to the LORD, them have I given you.
from Genesis 4:3
The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk.
from Numbers 18:12
And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house of the LORD:
from Exodus 23:19
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
from Luke 2:14
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.
from Acts 10:36 · a strong link
Has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
from Matthew 28:18 · 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?
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to repay with affliction those who afflict you;
from Luke 18:7
If I sharpen my glittering sword, and my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
from II Thessalonians 1:6
If he turn not, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent his bow, and made it ready.
from Deuteronomy 32:41
Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also polished:
from Psalms 7:12
And say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD; Look, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.
from Ezekiel 21:9
Look, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, says the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
from Ezekiel 21:3
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.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Since therefore the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the plunder with the strong; because he has poured out his soul to death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
from Hebrews 2:14
So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
from Isaiah 53:12
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.
from Isaiah 52:15
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Genesis 27:36 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