a thread opens
Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from afar; they shall fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.
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.
Look, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! for we are plundered.
from Habakkuk 1:8 · a strong link
The LORD shall bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue you shall not understand;
from Jeremiah 4:13
Say now to the rebellious house, Do you not know what these things mean? tell them, Look, the king of Babylon has come to Jerusalem, and has taken its king, and its princes, and led them with him to Babylon;
from Deuteronomy 28:49
And say, Thus says the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
from Ezekiel 17:12
There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and indeed, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, so that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
from Ezekiel 17:3
a thread opens
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
from I Corinthians 8:4
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
from Ephesians 4:6
And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.
from Ephesians 3:17
For this reason I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him for that day.
from Romans 5:5
a thread opens
By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
Who have for my life laid down their own necks: to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
from I John 3:16
Because for the work of Christ he was near to death, risking his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.
from Romans 16:4
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that at last your concern for me has revived; in which you were also careful, but you lacked opportunity.
from Philippians 2:30
a thread opens
But the anointing which you have received of him remains in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall remain in him.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
from I John 2:27 · a strong link
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
from I John 2:20
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
from Acts 10:38 · a strong link
You are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
from Luke 4:18
For you were once darkness, but now are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
from I Thessalonians 5:5
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
from Ephesians 5:8
a thread opens
And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, varieties of tongues.
Which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
from I Corinthians 12:28
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the knowledge of the truth which is after godliness;
from Ephesians 3:5
But foolish and ignorant controversies avoid, knowing that they do breed quarrels.
from Titus 1:1
But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase to more ungodliness.
from II Timothy 2:23
For the mystery of lawlessness does already work: only he who now restrains will do so, until he is taken out of the way.
from II Timothy 2:16
a thread opens
I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly to you.
You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
from I Chronicles 29:17
And when they had come to him, he said to them, You know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
from I Thessalonians 2:10
And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
from Acts 20:18 · a strong link
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
from Acts 18:19
a thread opens
Clean out therefore the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
The place of the Scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb mute before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
from I Corinthians 5:7
For even to this were you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, so that you should follow his steps:
from Acts 8:32 · a strong link
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
from I Peter 2:21 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Habakkuk 1:8 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