a thread opens
Therefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
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.
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds.
from Hebrews 12:12 · a strong link
And shall say to them, Hear, O Israel, you approach this day to battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, do not fear, and do not tremble, neither be terrified because of them;
from Hebrews 12:3
Saying, Do not fear, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar: and, look, God has given you all them that sail with you.
from Deuteronomy 20:3
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.
And say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Look, I am against you, O Sidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of you: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
from Leviticus 10:3
I will accept you with your sweet savor, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the pagans.
from Ezekiel 28:22
Thus says the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the pagans, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.
from Ezekiel 20:41 · a strong link
And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell in it, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
from Ezekiel 28:25
And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
from Ezekiel 37:25
Look, the days come, says the LORD, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
from Ezekiel 37:24
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,
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
from Jude 1:24
All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.
from John 10:29
For I have given to them the words which you gave me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from you, and they have believed that you did send me.
from John 6:37
I have given them your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
from John 17:8 · a strong link
They are of the world: therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them.
from John 17:14
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
And they rose up before Moses, with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
from Numbers 1:16
These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.
from Numbers 16:2
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bands apart.
from Luke 1:79
O LORD, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, and the son of your maidservant: you have loosed my chains.
from Psalms 107:14
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?
Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.
from Luke 18:7
And he spoke a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
from I Timothy 5:5
Watch therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall happen, and to stand before the Son of man.
from Luke 18:1 · a strong link
Therefore take to you the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
from Luke 21:36
Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw near, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them;
from Ephesians 6:13
And that from a child you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
from Ecclesiastes 12:1
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.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
And now, brothers, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
from Acts 20:24
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
from Acts 20:32 · a strong link
And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.
from Acts 14:23
And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy to all the brothers.
from Acts 15:4
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Hebrews 12:12 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