a thread opens
And the LORD said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
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.
You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and remained not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
from Genesis 4:9
He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, so that he might destroy the works of the devil.
from John 8:44 · a strong link
Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
from I John 3:8 · a strong link
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
And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he has chosen will he cause to come near to him.
from Leviticus 21:17
And the room whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister to him.
from Numbers 16:5
To be a memorial to the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
from Ezekiel 40:46
And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.
from Numbers 16:40
And when the tabernacle sets out, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.
from Numbers 3:10 · a strong link
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 to him that is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say to you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
from Ephesians 3:20
Men and brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and whoever among you fears God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.
from Matthew 3:9
But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
from Acts 13:26
Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen:
from Isaiah 41:8 · a strong link
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
Therefore thus says the LORD, Look, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbor and his friend shall perish.
Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
from Jeremiah 6:21
Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
from Isaiah 9:14
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 he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
from Acts 10:36
Yes, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
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
For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty;
from Hebrews 10:35
He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
from Hebrews 2:2 · a strong link
But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
from Hebrews 10:28
Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
from Matthew 18:16
This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
from Numbers 35:30
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
For I think that God has set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men.
from Philippians 3:8
Partly, while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, while you became companions of them that were so used.
from I Corinthians 4:9 · a strong link
However you have well done, that you did share in my trouble.
from Hebrews 10:33
Even as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my chains, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of my grace.
from Philippians 4:14
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Genesis 4:9 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