a thread opens
And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them cast images, even two calves, and made an Asherah pole, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
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.
And lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, should be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD your God has divided to all nations under the whole heaven.
from II Kings 17:16
Who exchanged the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
from Deuteronomy 4:19
Thus says the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:
from Romans 1:25
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.
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 10:3
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
You shall not do so to the LORD your God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
from Leviticus 18:21
You shall not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shall you speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
from Deuteronomy 12:31
My son, walk not you in the way with them; refrain your foot from their path:
from Exodus 23:2
Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
from Proverbs 1:15
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,
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
from Jude 1:24
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away.
from Hebrews 13:20
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 I Peter 5:4
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
from I John 3:2
That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
from Romans 8:14
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.
The look on their faces bears witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.
from Jude 1:11
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
from Isaiah 3:9 · a strong link
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
from Genesis 13:13
Look, the hire of the laborers who have harvested your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.
from Genesis 18:20
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
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
from Luke 1:79
The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
from Psalms 107:10
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
Honor widows that are widows indeed.
from I Timothy 5:5 · a strong link
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministry.
from I Timothy 5:3
And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made to every man according as he had need.
from Acts 6:1 · a strong link
And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
from Acts 4:35
Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?
from Acts 2:45
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 his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
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 John 12:25
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith:
Therefore seeing we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
from II Timothy 4:7
And to knowledge self-control; and to self-control patience; and to patience godliness;
from Hebrews 12:1
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from II Kings 17:16 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