a thread opens
And I will betroth you to me for ever; yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving devotion, and in mercy.
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.
Turn, O backsliding children, says the LORD; for I am married to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
from Hosea 2:19
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return to her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me, says the LORD.
from Jeremiah 3:14
When a man has taken a wife, and married her, and it happen that she find no favor in his eyes, because he has found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a certificate of divorce, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
from Jeremiah 3:1 · 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.
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
Again, you shall say to the children of Israel, Whoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that gives any of his seed to Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
from Leviticus 18:21 · a strong link
And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.
from Leviticus 20:2
For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty;
from Leviticus 24:23
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
According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, so that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
from Ephesians 5:27 · a strong link
Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
from Ephesians 1:4 · a strong link
For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
from II Timothy 1:9 · a strong link
No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
from Ephesians 2:8 · 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.
Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
Look, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
from II Peter 2:15
And now, look, I go to my people: come therefore, and I will inform you what this people shall do to your people in the latter days.
from Numbers 31:16
But there is a God in heaven that reveals secrets, and makes known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, are these;
from Numbers 24:14
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do.
from Luke 2:14
Jesus says to them, My food is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
from John 17:4 · a strong link
But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me.
from John 4:34
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?
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some men count slowness; but is patience toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
from Luke 18:7
For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not delay.
from II Peter 3:9 · a strong link
He which testifies these things says, Surely I am coming soon. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
from Hebrews 10:37
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin to salvation.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
from Hebrews 9:28
But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.
from I John 3:2
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.
He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For the love of Christ compels us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
from Matthew 10:37
And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
from II Corinthians 5:14
And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.
from Luke 7:42
The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
from Ephesians 4:32
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Hosea 2:19 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