a thread opens
And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.
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.
As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities them that fear him.
from II Samuel 18:5
Look down from heaven, and look from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory: where is your zeal and your strength, the sounding of your bowels and of your mercies toward me? are they restrained?
from Psalms 103:13
How shall I give you up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver you, Israel? how shall I make you as Admah? how shall I set you as Zeboim? my heart is turned within me, my compassions are kindled together.
from Isaiah 63:15
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.
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 10:3
And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma: all the fat is the LORD’s.
from Leviticus 3:11
Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled flesh of you, but raw.
from Leviticus 3:16
For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
from I Samuel 2:15
Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw yourself.
from Romans 16:18
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 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
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
from Romans 16:25 · a strong link
But why do you judge your brother? or why do you set at nothing your brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
from Romans 2:16
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
from Romans 14:10
Be patient therefore, brothers, to the coming of the Lord. Look, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
from I Corinthians 4:5
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.
The look on their faces bears witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.
from Jude 1:11
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
from Isaiah 3:9 · a strong link
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
from Genesis 13:13
Look, the hire of the laborers who have harvested your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.
from Genesis 18:20
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.
from Luke 1:79
There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
from Psalms 23:4 · a strong link
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?
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
from Luke 18:7
However the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
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 II Timothy 4:17 · a strong link
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
from Acts 9:15 · a strong link
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God,
from Acts 13:2
And he said to me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show to his servants the things which must shortly be done.
from Romans 1:1
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.
Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
from Luke 14:26
Therefore from now on we regard no one after the flesh: yes, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now from now on know we him no more.
from Deuteronomy 33:9
To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
from II Corinthians 5:16
O foolish Galatians, who has cast a spell on you, so that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been publicly portrayed, crucified among you?
from Galatians 2:5
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him;
from Galatians 3:1
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from II Samuel 18:5 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