The Vigil

from II Samuel 13:20

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.

a thread opens

II Samuel 13:20

And Absalom her brother said to her, Has Amnon your brother been with you? but hold now your peace, my sister: he is your brother; regard not this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house.


a thread opens

Leviticus 10:3

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.

Exodus 14:4

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.

from Leviticus 10:3

Exodus 9:16

And in very deed for this cause have I raised you up, to show in you my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

from Exodus 14:4

I Peter 2:8

And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: to which also they were appointed.

from Exodus 9:16

Romans 9:22

What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

from I Peter 2:8

II Timothy 2:20

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor.

from Romans 9:22 · a strong link

Daniel 5:2

Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink in it.

from II Timothy 2:20


a thread opens

Jude 1:24

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,

II Timothy 4:18

And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

from Jude 1:24

Psalms 23:5

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

from Psalms 92:10 · a strong link

John 6:53

Then Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

from Psalms 23:5

Matthew 18:3

And said, Truly I say to you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

from John 6:53


a thread opens

Jude 1:11

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.

II Peter 2:15

Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

from Jude 1:11 · a strong link

Micah 6:5

O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Acacia to Gilgal; that you may know the righteousness of the LORD.

from II Peter 2:15

Numbers 25:1

And Israel remained in Acacia, and the people began to commit prostitution with the daughters of Moab.

from Micah 6:5 · a strong link


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Psalms 85:9

Surely his salvation is near them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.

from Luke 2:14

Zechariah 2:5

For I, says the LORD, will be to her a wall of fire around, and will be the glory in the midst of her.

from Psalms 85:9 · a strong link

Isaiah 60:18

Violence shall no more be heard in your land, wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.

from Zechariah 2:5


a thread opens

Luke 18:7

And shall not God give justice to his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?

Galatians 6:8

For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.

from Hebrews 10:35 · a strong link

John 4:36

And he that reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit to life eternal: that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together.

from Galatians 6:8

Romans 1:13

Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that oftentimes I purposed to come to you, (but was let until now,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

from John 4:36

Romans 11:25

For I would not, brothers, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles have come in.

from Romans 1:13

Zechariah 14:9

And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

from Romans 11:25


a thread opens

Luke 14:26

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.

Psalms 73:25

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

Philippians 3:8

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

Jeremiah 41:8

But ten men were found among them that said to Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brothers.

from Proverbs 13:8

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from II Samuel 13:20 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