a thread opens
And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD, and wept sore.
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.
Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
from I Samuel 1:10
What shall I say? he has both spoken to me, and himself has done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
from Job 7:11
And it happened, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
from Isaiah 38:15 · a strong link
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
And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and indeed, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
from Genesis 31:54
Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
from Genesis 37:25 · a strong link
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,
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight:
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, so that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
from Colossians 1:22
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
from Ephesians 1:4
But have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
from Ephesians 4:15
For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:
from II Corinthians 4:2
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.
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why he slew him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks.
from I John 3:12 · a strong link
That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar.
from Hebrews 11:4 · a strong link
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
from Matthew 23:35
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moves in it.
from Luke 2:14
For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
from Psalms 69:34
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, to all patience and patience with joyfulness;
from Isaiah 55:12
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?
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 Luke 18:7 · a strong link
And I heard the angel of the waters say, You are righteous, O Lord, who are, and were, and shall be, because you have judged thus.
from Revelation of John 6:10 · a strong link
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
You are my witnesses, says the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
from Revelation of John 1:8 · a strong link
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
from Isaiah 43:10
So the pagans shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth your glory.
from Isaiah 45:6
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.
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
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart;
from Acts 20:24 · a strong link
And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
from II Corinthians 4:1
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
from II Corinthians 5:18
The next day John sees Jesus coming to him, and says, Look, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.
from I John 2:2
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from I Samuel 1:10 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