a thread opens
And the man of God said to the king, If you will give me half your house, I will not go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:
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.
And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.
from I Kings 13:8 · a strong link
And Balaam said to Balak, Look, I have come to you: have I now any power at all to say anything? the word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak.
from Numbers 22:18
And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again to Balak, and say thus.
from Numbers 22:38
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.
No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
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 21:21
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
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, You shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.
from Leviticus 3:16
Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and sensuality, not in strife and envying.
from Leviticus 7:23
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,
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
from Jude 1:24
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and says of him, Look, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Then Jesus said to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed;
from John 1:47
Whoever transgresses, and does not remain in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He that remains in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son.
from John 8:31 · a strong link
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
from II John 1:9
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.
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
They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.
from II Peter 2:15
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said to them, O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
from Proverbs 28:4
But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.
from Matthew 3:7
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
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
from Luke 1:79
Justice and judgment are the habitation of your throne: mercy and truth shall go before your face.
from Psalms 85:10 · 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?
A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the director of music upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you:
from Luke 18:7 · a strong link
To the director of music upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David. The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that does good.
from Psalms 88:1
The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
from Psalms 53:1
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
from Psalms 10:4
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
from Genesis 6:5 · a strong link
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
from Matthew 15:19 · a strong link
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.
Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as rubbish, so that I may win Christ,
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
from Philippians 3:8
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a while;
from Romans 8:18
Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this have you chosen rather than affliction.
from Hebrews 11:25
For it is better, if the will of God is so, that you suffer for doing good, than for evil doing.
from Job 36:21
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from I Kings 13:8 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