a thread opens
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because its shadow is good: therefore your daughters shall commit prostitution, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
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.
The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? she has gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the prostitute.
from Hosea 4:13
And the LORD said to me, The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
from Jeremiah 3:6
And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her prostitution more than her sister in her prostitution.
from Jeremiah 3:11
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 did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give to the house of your father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?
from Numbers 16:5
And its remainder shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it.
from I Samuel 2:28
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
from Leviticus 6:16
The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
from Exodus 12:8
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
Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing in which they dealt proudly he was above them.
from John 10:29
For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
from Exodus 18:11 · a strong link
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unfathomable.
from Psalms 95:3 · a strong link
Which does great things beyond tracing out; yes, and wonders without number.
from Psalms 145:3 · 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
And Jacob called to his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
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
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith:
from John 17:4
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 II Timothy 4:7
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?
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to repay with affliction those who afflict you;
from Luke 18:7
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
from II Thessalonians 1:6
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
from Revelation of John 18:24 · a strong link
And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
I know your works, and where you dwell, even where Satan’s seat is: and you hold fast my name, and have not denied my faith, even in those days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells.
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.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
But he knows the way that I take: when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
from I Peter 1:7 · a strong link
He says to him the third time, Simon, son of John, love you me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, Love you me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you. Jesus says to him, Feed my sheep.
from Job 23:10
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Hosea 4:13 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