a thread opens
And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
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 Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.
from Genesis 28:18
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
Blessed is the man whom you choose, and cause to approach to you, so that he may dwell in your courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, even of your holy temple.
from Leviticus 21:17
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.
from Psalms 65:4 · a strong link
Happy are you, O Israel: who is like you, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and who is the sword of your excellence! and your enemies shall be found liars to you; and you shall tread upon their high places.
from Psalms 33:12
Look, I have received commandment to bless: and he has blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
from Deuteronomy 33:29
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
from Numbers 23:20
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
Incline your ear, and come to me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
from Hebrews 13:20
Truly, truly, I say to you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has eternal life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death to life.
from Isaiah 55:3
For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
from John 5:24
But we must give thanks always to God for you, brothers beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
from I Thessalonians 5:9
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.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
from Jude 1:11
Look, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
from Revelation of John 2:14 · a strong link
Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
from Numbers 31:16 · a strong link
He sent messengers therefore to Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Look, there has a people come out from Egypt: look, they cover the face of the earth, and they remain opposite me:
from II Peter 2:15
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Saying, Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
from Luke 19:38
And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you have obeyed my voice.
from Psalms 72:17 · 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?
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great reward.
from Luke 18:7
And you shall be blessed; for they cannot recompense you: for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
from Hebrews 10:35
Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
from Luke 14:14
Listen, my beloved brothers, Has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that love him?
from Matthew 25:34 · a strong link
Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him.
from James 2:5 · a strong link
And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
from James 1:12
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.
Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as rubbish, so that I may win Christ,
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
from Philippians 3:8
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
from Philippians 3:7
For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?
from Matthew 16:26 · a strong link
And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
from Luke 9:25
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Genesis 28:18 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