a thread opens
And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
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.
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our competence is from God;
from II Corinthians 12:9 · a strong link
Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! look, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
from II Corinthians 3:5
Ah Lord GOD! look, you have made the heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for you:
from Jeremiah 1:6
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
from Jeremiah 32:17 · a strong link
For every house is built by some man; but he that built all things is God.
from Genesis 1:1 · a strong link
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.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
from I Corinthians 8:4
Look, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
from I Timothy 2:5
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
from Matthew 1:23 · a strong link
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;
from Isaiah 9:6
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.
For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit:
from I John 3:16
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree:
from I Peter 3:18
And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
from Galatians 3:13
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 the Helper, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.
from I John 2:27 · a strong link
But while he thought on these things, look, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, you son of David, do not fear to take to you Mary your wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
from John 14:26
And it shall happen afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
from Matthew 1:20
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
from Joel 2:28 · a strong link
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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.
Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.
from I Corinthians 12:28
Shepherd the flock of God among you, taking its oversight, not by constraint, but willingly; not for dishonest gain, but of a ready mind;
from Acts 20:28 · a strong link
For an overseer must be blameless, as the steward of God; not arrogant, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain;
from I Peter 5:2 · a strong link
But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise authority. Presumptuous are they, arrogant, they are not afraid to speak evil of glorious ones.
from Titus 1:7
Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but sexually immoral people and adulterers God will judge.
from II Peter 2:10
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.
I the LORD search the heart, I try the inmost thoughts, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
from I Chronicles 29:17 · a strong link
And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
from Jeremiah 17:10 · a strong link
But, O LORD of hosts, that judge righteously, that try the inmost thoughts and the heart, let me see your vengeance on them: for to you have I revealed my cause.
from Romans 8:27
Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
from Jeremiah 11:20
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:
And I saw, and, look, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
from I Corinthians 5:7
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:
But you, O LORD, know me: you have seen me, and tried my heart toward you: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
from Acts 8:32
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from II Corinthians 12:9 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