a thread opens
And the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
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.
Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, so that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth as witnesses against them.
from II Kings 23:1
Give ear, O you heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
from Deuteronomy 31:28 · a strong link
Hear, O earth: look, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
from Deuteronomy 32:1
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
For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the Majestic Glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
from Mark 9:7 · a strong link
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 to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
from Jude 1:24
How that by revelation he made known to me the mystery; (as I wrote before in few words,
from Romans 16:25
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
from Ephesians 3:3
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
To which I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
from Acts 9:15
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.
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
from Jude 1:11
And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
from Numbers 16:1
The son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah,
from Exodus 6:21
To the director of music for the sons of Korah, Maschil. We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work you did in their days, in the times of old.
from I Chronicles 6:37
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moves in it.
from Luke 2:14
For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
from Psalms 69:34
Let the sea roar, and its fullness: let the fields rejoice, and all that is in it.
from Isaiah 55:12
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
If any man or woman that believes have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.
from I Timothy 5:5
But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
from I Timothy 5:16
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 I Timothy 5:8
But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother have need, and closes his heart against him, how dwells the love of God in him?
from Isaiah 58:7
He answers and says to them, He that has two coats, let him impart to him that has none; and he that has food, let him do likewise.
from I John 3:17
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.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as rubbish, so that I may win Christ,
from Psalms 73:25 · a strong link
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
from Philippians 3:8
Making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
from Ephesians 4:13 · a strong link
Now I beg you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
from Ephesians 4:3 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from II Kings 23:1 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