a thread opens
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to torment me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
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.
But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall happen, that those which you let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall trouble you in the land in which you dwell.
from II Corinthians 12:7
Therefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.
from Numbers 33:55 · a strong link
And you shall consume all the people which the LORD your God shall deliver you; your eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shall you serve their gods; for that will be a snare to you.
from Judges 2:3
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 said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
from Leviticus 10:3
Look, my servant, whom I uphold; my elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
from Isaiah 49:3
Look, my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles.
from Isaiah 42:1
While he yet spoke, look, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and look, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him.
from Matthew 12:18
And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
from Matthew 17:5
And there came a voice from heaven, saying, You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
from Mark 9:7
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
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
from Ephesians 5:27
Who gave himself for us, so that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works.
from Hebrews 9:14 · a strong link
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
from Titus 2:14
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you, and peace, be multiplied.
from I Peter 2:9
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
And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.
from Numbers 31:8 · a strong link
And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, which were chiefs of Sihon, dwelling in the country.
from Numbers 25:15
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Saying, Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
from Luke 19:38
For he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, look, from now on all generations shall call me blessed.
from Psalms 72:17 · a strong link
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
Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?
from Revelation of John 6:10 · a strong link
Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did you at all fast to me, even to me?
from Zechariah 1:12
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? says the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of young bulls, or of lambs, or of he goats.
from Zechariah 7:5
And Samuel said, Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Look, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
from Isaiah 1:11 · a strong link
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
Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
from Matthew 10:37 · a strong link
And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
from Matthew 22:37 · a strong link
That they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
from Deuteronomy 10:12
That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise the LORD.
from Ezekiel 11:20 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from II Corinthians 12:7 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