a thread opens
And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.
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.
He struck the Philistines, even to Gaza, and its borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.
from II Kings 17:9 · a strong link
Do not rejoice, whole Philistia, because the rod of him that struck you is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth an adder, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
from II Kings 18:8 · a strong link
The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from where come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
from Isaiah 14:29
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she had come to Solomon, she spoke with him of all that was in her heart.
from Isaiah 30:6
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world works death.
from Acts 20:21
A merry heart does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones.
from II Corinthians 7:10
Heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop: but a good word makes it glad.
from Proverbs 17:22 · a strong link
Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
from Proverbs 12:25
My son, eat you honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to your taste:
from Proverbs 16:24 · a strong link
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
Then Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
from Acts 13:38
Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
from Acts 2:38 · a strong link
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
from Isaiah 32:15 · a strong link
For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
from Isaiah 35:1 · a strong link
Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
from Isaiah 51:3
Sing, O you heavens; for the LORD has done it: shout, you lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it: for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
from Isaiah 49:13 · a strong link
a thread opens
Because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
from Acts 17:31
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
from II Peter 3:7
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a roar, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works in it shall be burned up.
from Revelation of John 21:1 · a strong link
a thread opens
For truly against your holy child Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
from Matthew 27:2
For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
from Luke 13:1
For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
from I Peter 4:17
a thread opens
You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you.
For the LORD had said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, You are a stiff-necked people: I will come up into the midst of you in a moment, and consume you: therefore now put off your ornaments from you, so that I may know what to do to you.
from Acts 7:51 · a strong link
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
from Exodus 33:5
The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD tries the hearts.
from Psalms 139:23 · a strong link
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 Proverbs 17:3 · a strong link
But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in its forest, and it shall devour all things around it.
from Jeremiah 17:10
a thread opens
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
But the Lord said to him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
from Acts 22:21 · a strong link
Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power.
from Acts 9:15 · a strong link
To which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.
from Ephesians 3:7
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, greets you, always wrestling for you in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.
from Colossians 1:29
Be therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
from Colossians 4:12
The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
from Matthew 5:48
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from II Kings 17:9 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