a thread opens
And they gave to Jacob all the strange gods in their hand, and all their earrings in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
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 all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar in Shechem.
from Genesis 35:4
So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built all around from Millo and inward.
from Judges 9:6
Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
from II Samuel 5:9
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.
No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
from Leviticus 21:21
And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
Neither shall you profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,
from Leviticus 18:21
Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.
from Leviticus 22:32
And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And why one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
from Leviticus 21:15
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,
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight:
from Ephesians 5:27 · a strong link
Therefore, my brothers, you also have become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, so that we should bring forth fruit to God.
from Colossians 1:22
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end eternal life.
from Romans 7:4
For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.
from Romans 6:22
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 the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:
from Jude 1:11
These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.
from Numbers 26:9 · a strong link
Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating greed; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
from Numbers 1:16 · a strong link
He that has not given forth upon interest, neither has taken any increase, that has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true judgment between man and man,
from Exodus 18:21
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And every creature in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be to him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever.
from Luke 2:14
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.
Enter into the rock, and hide you in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
from I Chronicles 29:11
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?
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
from Luke 18:7
And they shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
And it happened, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,
from Jeremiah 1:19
Then Pharaoh’s army had come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.
from Jeremiah 37:11
But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, so that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that does such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?
from Jeremiah 37:5 · a strong link
But if you will not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape out of their hand.
from Ezekiel 17:15
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.
Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
from Luke 14:26
And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked to their shame among their enemies:)
from Deuteronomy 33:9
Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
from Exodus 32:25
And if you say in your heart, Why come these things upon me? For the greatness of your iniquity are your skirts discovered, and your heels made bore.
from Hosea 2:3
And it shall happen, when you shall say, Why does the LORD our God all these things to us? then shall you answer them, Like as you have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
from Jeremiah 13:22 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Genesis 35:4 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