The Vigil

from II Samuel 18:2

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 18:2

And David sent forth a third of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, I will surely go forth with you myself also.

II Samuel 15:19

Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why do you go also with us? return to your place, and remain with the king: for you are a stranger, and also an exile.

from II Samuel 18:2

Ruth 1:11

And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will you go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, so that they may be your husbands?

from II Samuel 15:19

Deuteronomy 25:5

If brothers dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without to a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.

from Ruth 1:11 · a strong link


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.

Leviticus 21:21

No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

from Leviticus 10:3

Leviticus 21:6

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 21:21

Leviticus 18:21

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

Deuteronomy 12:31

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

Jeremiah 7:31

And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.

from Deuteronomy 12:31

II Kings 23:10

And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, so that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

from Jeremiah 7:31


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,

Colossians 1:22

In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight:

from Jude 1:24 · a strong link

II Corinthians 11:2

For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have betrothed you to one husband, so that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

from Colossians 1:22

John 3:29

He that has the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

from II Corinthians 11:2

Song of Solomon 5:1

I have come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yes, drink abundantly, O beloved.

from John 3:29


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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.

Numbers 26:9

And the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:

from Jude 1:11

Numbers 1:16

These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.

from Numbers 26:9 · a strong link

Numbers 16:2

And they rose up before Moses, with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:

from Numbers 1:16

I Chronicles 5:24

And these were the heads of the house of their fathers, even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valor, famous men, and heads of the house of their fathers.

from Numbers 16:2


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

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

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

from Luke 2:14

Ephesians 3:19

And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.

from John 1:16


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?

I Timothy 5:5

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

Deuteronomy 16:11

And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite within your gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD your God has chosen to place his name there.

from I Timothy 5:3

Deuteronomy 12:7

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 Deuteronomy 16:11 · a strong link

Deuteronomy 14:26

And you shall bestow that money for whatever your soul lusts after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul desires: and you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you, and your household,

from Deuteronomy 12:7 · a strong link


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.

John 12:25

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

Matthew 19:29

And every one that has forsaken houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life.

from John 12:25

Matthew 5:11

Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

from Matthew 19:29 · a strong link

Psalms 44:22

Yes, for your sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

from Matthew 5:11 · a strong link

Romans 8:36

As it is written, For your sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

from Psalms 44:22 · a strong link

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from II Samuel 18:2 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