a thread opens
And the king said to her, What ails you? And she answered, I am indeed a widow, and my husband is dead.
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.
The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, Reign you over us.
from II Samuel 14:5
Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule you over us, both you, and your son, and your son’s son also: for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.
from Judges 9:8
And when you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, No; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king.
from Judges 8:22
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 let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
from Leviticus 10:3
And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.
from Exodus 19:22
And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
from Exodus 24:5
And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.
from Exodus 18:12
But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God shall choose, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite within your gates: and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all that you put your hands to.
from Deuteronomy 12:7 · a strong link
And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks; that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
from Deuteronomy 12:18
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 able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
To which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.
from Ephesians 3:20 · a strong link
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
from Colossians 1:29 · a strong link
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our competence is from God;
from I Corinthians 15:10 · a strong link
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.
from II Corinthians 3:5 · a strong link
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.
And in process of time it happened, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
from Jude 1:11
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer to the LORD, them have I given you.
from Genesis 4:3
The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk.
from Numbers 18:12
You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe fruits, and of your liquors: the firstborn of your sons shall you give to me.
from Exodus 23:19
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Saying, Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: look, your King comes to you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt the foal of a donkey.
from Luke 19:38
All this was done, so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
from Zechariah 9:9
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
He does execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loves the stranger, in giving him food and apparel.
from I Timothy 5:3
A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
from Deuteronomy 10:18 · a strong link
From the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
from Psalms 68:5
Then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart you know; (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men;)
from Psalms 33:14
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.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus:
from Acts 20:24
Even as the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
from Romans 3:24
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
from Matthew 20:28 · a strong link
But whoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe in me to sin, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
from Philippians 2:4
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from II Samuel 14:5 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