a thread opens
And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle.
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.
Until the day breaks, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young deer upon the mountains of Bether.
from II Samuel 2:18
Until the day breaks, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
from Song of Solomon 2:17 · a strong link
Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us,
from Song of Solomon 4:6
We have also the prophetic word more fully confirmed; to which you do well that you take heed, as to a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
from Luke 1:78
נ NUN. Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.
from II Peter 1:19 · a strong link
a thread opens
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.
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
from I Corinthians 8:4
Have we not all one father? has not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
from Ephesians 4:6
Doubtless you are our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: you, O LORD, are our father, our redeemer; your name is from everlasting.
from Malachi 2:10
Do you thus repay the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he your father that has bought you? has he not made you, and established you?
from Isaiah 63:16
a thread opens
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.
Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, so that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
from Philippians 2:17 · a strong link
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God,
from Romans 15:16
a thread opens
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.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
from I John 2:27
My tabernacle also shall be with them: yes, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
from Hebrews 8:10 · a strong link
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Look, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
from Ezekiel 37:27
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? for you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
from Revelation of John 21:3 · a strong link
You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people who are around you;
from II Corinthians 6:16
And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
from Deuteronomy 6:14 · a strong link
a thread opens
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.
Greet all your leaders, and all the saints. They of Italy greet you.
from I Corinthians 12:28 · a strong link
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 Hebrews 13:24 · a strong link
Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
from Hebrews 13:17
And for me, that words may be given to me, so that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
from I Corinthians 4:1
Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.
from Ephesians 6:19
a thread opens
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.
For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart.
from I Chronicles 29:17
Of his own will he fathered us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
from Hebrews 4:12 · a strong link
But we must give thanks always to God for you, brothers beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
from James 1:18
For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
a thread opens
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:
And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, Look, the Lamb of God!
from I Corinthians 5:7
Looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
from John 1:36
And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things says the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
from Hebrews 12:2
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from II Samuel 2:18 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