The Vigil

from I Samuel 8:5

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 Samuel 8:5

And said to him, Look, you are old, and your sons walk not in your ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

I Samuel 8:19

Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, No; but we will have a king over us;

from I Samuel 8:5

Daniel 3:15

Now if you are ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if you worship not, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

from Jeremiah 44:16

Acts 5:29

Then Peter and the other apostles answered, We ought to obey God rather than men.

from Daniel 3:15

Genesis 3:17

And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life;

from Acts 5:29


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I Corinthians 8:4

As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.

Deuteronomy 4:39

Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

from I Corinthians 8:4

II Chronicles 20:6

And said, O LORD God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? and rule not you over all the kingdoms of the pagans? and in your hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand you?

from Deuteronomy 4:39

Daniel 4:25

That they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will.

from II Chronicles 20:6

Psalms 83:18

That men may know that you, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, are the most high over all the earth.

from Daniel 4:25 · a strong link


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I John 3:16

By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Ephesians 5:2

And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a fragrant offering.

from I John 3:16 · a strong link

Revelation of John 1:5

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

from Ephesians 5:2


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I John 2:27

But the anointing which you have received of him remains in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall remain in him.

Hebrews 8:10

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

from I John 2:27

Ezekiel 37:27

My tabernacle also shall be with them: yes, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

from Hebrews 8:10 · a strong link

John 1:14

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

from Ezekiel 37:27

I Timothy 3:16

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

from John 1:14 · a strong link

Matthew 1:23

Look, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

from I Timothy 3:16

Isaiah 8:8

And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.

from Matthew 1:23


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I Corinthians 12:28

And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, varieties of tongues.

Romans 12:8

Or he that exhorts, on exhortation: he that gives, let him do it with simplicity; he that rules, with diligence; he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

from I Timothy 5:17 · a strong link

II Corinthians 9:7

Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver.

from Romans 12:8 · a strong link

Acts 20:35

I have shown you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

from II Corinthians 9:7 · a strong link

I Thessalonians 5:14

Now we exhort you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with everyone.

from Acts 20:35 · a strong link


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I Chronicles 29:17

I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly to you.

II Corinthians 1:12

For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conduct in the world, and more abundantly toward you.

from I Chronicles 29:17

I Corinthians 2:13

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

from II Corinthians 1:12

I Corinthians 2:14

But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

from I Corinthians 2:13


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I Corinthians 5:7

Clean out therefore the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:

Revelation of John 5:6

And I saw, and, look, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

from I Corinthians 5:7

Revelation of John 3:1

And to the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things says he who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know your works, that you have a name that you live, and are dead.

from Revelation of John 1:4 · a strong link

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from I Samuel 8:5 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