a thread opens
And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
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 the Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.
from Genesis 37:25
Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
from Genesis 37:36
And Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, Please. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
from Genesis 37:28
But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take courage; it is I; be not afraid.
from Genesis 45:4
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
But showed first to them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, so that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.
from Acts 20:21
But go and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
from Acts 26:20
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
from Matthew 9:13 · a strong link
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
from Romans 3:10
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does he tempt any man:
from Matthew 15:19
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
from Acts 13:38 · a strong link
When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance to life.
from Luke 24:47
And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said to him, You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
from Acts 11:18
And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
from Acts 21:20 · a strong link
Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
from Galatians 1:14
Beware lest any man take you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, after the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, and not after Christ.
from Matthew 15:2
a thread opens
Because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
from Acts 17:31
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall grow old like a garment, and they that dwell in it shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
from II Peter 3:7
That whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
from Isaiah 51:6
a thread opens
For truly against your holy child Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
from Matthew 27:2
For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
from Luke 13:1
And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: to which also they were appointed.
from I Peter 4:17 · a strong link
a thread opens
You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you.
But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
from Acts 7:51
And he said to him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
from Acts 7:27
And do you think this, O man, that judge them which do such things, and do the same, that you shall escape the judgment of God?
from Luke 12:14
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
from Romans 2:3
When you saw a thief, then you consented with him, and have been partaker with adulterers.
from Romans 1:32
a thread opens
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
But the Lord said to him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
from Acts 22:21 · a strong link
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
from Acts 9:15 · a strong link
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God,
from Galatians 1:15
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
from Romans 1:1
And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brothers send greeting to the brothers which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:
from James 1:1 · a strong link
Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers:
from Acts 15:23
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Genesis 37:25 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