The Vigil

from II Samuel 18:9

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 18:9

And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule under him went away.

II Samuel 14:26

And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year’s end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king’s weight.

from II Samuel 18:9 · a strong link

Ezekiel 44:20

Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.

from II Samuel 14:26

Numbers 6:5

All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in which he separates himself to the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.

from Ezekiel 44:20 · a strong link

Judges 16:17

That he told her all his heart, and said to her, There has not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb: if I am shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

from Numbers 6:5

Micah 7:5

Do not trust in a friend, do not put confidence in a guide: keep the doors of your mouth from her that lies in your bosom.

from Judges 16:17


a thread opens

I Corinthians 8:4

As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.

John 1:14

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

from I Timothy 2:5


a thread opens

I John 3:16

By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

I John 4:9

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

from I John 3:16 · a strong link

John 6:57

As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats me, even he shall live by me.

from I John 4:9 · a strong link

John 3:17

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

from John 6:57


a thread opens

I John 2:27

But the anointing which you have received of him remains in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall remain in him.

John 14:26

But the Helper, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.

from I John 2:27 · a strong link

Luke 11:13

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

from John 14:26 · a strong link

John 4:10

Jesus answered her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give me to drink; you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.

from Luke 11:13 · a strong link

Revelation of John 22:17

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

from John 4:10 · a strong link


a thread opens

I Corinthians 12:28

And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, varieties of tongues.

Hebrews 13:17

Obey your leaders, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

from I Corinthians 12:28 · a strong link

Revelation of John 20:4

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

from Hebrews 13:7


a thread opens

I Chronicles 29:17

I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly to you.

I Samuel 16:7

But the LORD said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.

from I Chronicles 29:17

Job 31:6

Let me be weighed in an even balance, so that God may know my integrity.

from Daniel 5:27


a thread opens

I Corinthians 5:7

Clean out therefore the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:

John 1:29

The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

from I Corinthians 5:7

Hebrews 9:28

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin to salvation.

from John 1:29

I Peter 2:24

Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live to righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed.

from Hebrews 9:28 · a strong link

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from II Samuel 18:9 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