The Vigil

from I John 3:20

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

I John 3:20

For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

Jeremiah 17:10

I the LORD search the heart, I try the inmost thoughts, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

from I John 3:20 · a strong link

Revelation of John 2:23

And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searches the inmost thoughts and hearts: and I will give to every one of you according to your works.

from Jeremiah 17:10 · a strong link

Jeremiah 11:20

But, O LORD of hosts, that judge righteously, that try the inmost thoughts and the heart, let me see your vengeance on them: for to you have I revealed my cause.

from Revelation of John 2:23 · 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.

I Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

from Isaiah 49:3

I Corinthians 3:17

If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

from I Peter 2:9 · a strong link

Ezekiel 7:22

My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.

from I Corinthians 3:17

Jeremiah 18:17

I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

from Ezekiel 7:22

Jeremiah 2:27

Saying to a stock, You are my father; and to a stone, You have brought me forth: for they have turned their back to me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

from Jeremiah 18:17 · a strong link


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,

II Timothy 4:18

And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

from Jude 1:24

I Chronicles 4:10

And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.

from II Timothy 4:18

Isaiah 41:17

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

from I Chronicles 4:10

Isaiah 42:16

And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do to them, and not forsake them.

from Isaiah 41:17

Isaiah 29:18

And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

from Isaiah 42:16 · a strong link


a thread opens

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.

II Peter 2:15

Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

from Jude 1:11 · a strong link

Micah 6:5

O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Acacia to Gilgal; that you may know the righteousness of the LORD.

from II Peter 2:15

Numbers 25:1

And Israel remained in Acacia, and the people began to commit prostitution with the daughters of Moab.

from Micah 6:5 · a strong link


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

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

Colossians 1:20

And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

from Luke 2:14 · a strong link

Colossians 1:21

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has he reconciled

from Colossians 1:20 · a strong link

Ephesians 2:12

That at that time you were without Christ, being excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

from Colossians 1:21 · a strong link


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?

II Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some men count slowness; but is patience toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

from Luke 18:7

Romans 9:22

What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

from II Peter 3:9

Numbers 14:18

The LORD is patience, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation.

from Romans 9:22

Exodus 20:5

You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

from Numbers 14:18 · a strong link

Jeremiah 2:9

Therefore I will yet plead with you, says the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead.

from Exodus 20:5

Jeremiah 2:35

Yet you say, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Look, I will plead with you, because you say, I have not sinned.

from Jeremiah 2:9


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.

Acts 20:24

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

from Luke 14:26 · a strong link

Acts 20:32

And now, brothers, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

from Acts 20:24

Acts 9:31

Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied.

from Acts 20:32

Job 28:28

And to man he said, Look, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

from Acts 9:31

Proverbs 3:7

Be not wise in your own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

from Job 28:28 · a strong link

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from I John 3:20 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