a thread opens
And Joab said to the king, Now the LORD your God add to the people, however many they be, a hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?
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 LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you!)
from II Samuel 24:3
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
from Deuteronomy 1:11
And God said to him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of you, and kings shall come out of your loins;
from Exodus 32:13
And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH I was not known to them.
from Genesis 35:11
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent:
from Acts 20:21
And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
from Acts 17:30
Then Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
from Mark 6:12
But what think you? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard.
from Acts 2:38 · a strong link
For the kingdom of heaven is like to a man that is a householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.
from Matthew 21:28
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
from Acts 13:38 · a strong link
When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance to life.
from Luke 24:47
For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world works death.
from Acts 11:18 · a strong link
A merry heart does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones.
from II Corinthians 7:10
Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God now accepts your works.
from Proverbs 17:22
So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.
from Ecclesiastes 9:7
a thread opens
Because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
from Acts 17:31
According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, who was committed to my trust.
from Romans 2:16 · a strong link
In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine to them.
from I Timothy 1:11
a thread opens
For truly against your holy child Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
By stretching forth your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of your holy child Jesus.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
from Acts 4:30
You men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know:
from Acts 3:6 · a strong link
Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak to you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works.
from Acts 2:22
a thread opens
You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you.
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
from Acts 7:51
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
from Jeremiah 4:4 · a strong link
And their camels shall be a plunder, and the multitude of their cattle a plunder: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all its sides, says the LORD.
from Jeremiah 9:26
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of you, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in you, and the whole remnant of you will I scatter into all the winds.
from Jeremiah 49:32
For, look, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
from Ezekiel 5:10
a thread opens
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
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 Acts 22:21 · 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
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
from Acts 13:2 · a strong link
And now, says the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.
from Galatians 1:15 · a strong link
While he yet spoke, look, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and look, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him.
from Isaiah 49:5
The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand.
from Matthew 17:5
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from II Samuel 24:3 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