a thread opens
And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.
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 it happened at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
from I Kings 20:22
And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for you shall strike the Syrians in Aphek, till you have consumed them.
from I Kings 20:26 · a strong link
And the LORD said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.
from II Kings 13:17
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.
And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
from Leviticus 10:3
And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.
from Exodus 19:22
And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
from Exodus 24:5
Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brothers to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and stayed all night in the mount.
from Exodus 18:12
So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast.
from Genesis 31:54
And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
from II Samuel 3:20
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,
But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.
from Jude 1:24
My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations;
from I Peter 4:13 · a strong link
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
from James 1:2 · a strong link
But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children;
from Romans 8:35 · a strong link
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations.
from Psalms 103:17
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.
The look on their faces bears witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.
from Jude 1:11
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
from Isaiah 3:9 · a strong link
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
from Genesis 13:13
For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is grown great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.
from Genesis 18:20
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
For you were once darkness, but now are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
from Luke 1:79
Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
from Ephesians 5:8
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?
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to repay with affliction those who afflict you;
from Luke 18:7
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
from II Thessalonians 1:6
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things says he who is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens;
from Revelation of John 6:10 · a strong link
And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
from Revelation of John 3:7 · a strong link
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
from Revelation of John 3:14 · a strong link
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying to me, Do not fear; I am the first and the last:
from Revelation of John 22:13 · 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.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white apparel; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Yet now, if you will forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, please, out of your book which you have written.
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
from Exodus 32:32
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree:
from Romans 9:3
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from I Kings 20:22 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