a thread opens
And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and handsome: and there was not among the children of Israel a more handsome person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
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 there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
from I Samuel 9:2
There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.
from I Samuel 17:4
From Ekron even to the sea, all that lay near Ashdod, with their villages:
from Joshua 11:22
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.
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 10:3
And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
Again, you shall say to the children of Israel, Whoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that gives any of his seed to Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
from Leviticus 18:21 · a strong link
Bring forth him that has cursed outside the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
from Leviticus 20:2
A man also or woman that is a medium, or that is a spiritist, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.
from Leviticus 24:14
And the soul that turns after mediums, and after spiritists, to prostitute themselves after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
from Leviticus 20:27
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,
Now to him that is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
For so an entrance shall be ministered to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
from Ephesians 3:20
Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
from II Peter 1:11
Saying, Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
from Matthew 25:34
Look, your house is left to you desolate: and truly I say to you, You shall not see me, until the time come when you shall say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.
from Luke 19:38 · a strong link
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.
And in process of time it happened, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
from Jude 1:11
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer to the LORD, them have I given you.
from Genesis 4:3
The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk.
from Numbers 18:12
That you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which you shall bring of your land that the LORD your God gives you, and shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God shall choose to place his name there.
from Exodus 23:19
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
And the way of peace have they not known:
from Luke 1:79
The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whoever goes into it shall not know peace.
from Romans 3:17 · 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?
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
But you, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, patience, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
from II Peter 3:9 · a strong link
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
from Psalms 86:15
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
from Ephesians 1:7
He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him.
from Colossians 1:27
That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, so that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that you have sent me.
from John 6:56
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.
Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
from Luke 14:26
But he answered and said to him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brothers?
from Deuteronomy 33:9
Therefore from now on we regard no one after the flesh: yes, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now from now on know we him no more.
from Matthew 12:48
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which works by love.
from II Corinthians 5:16
Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with inexpressible joy and full of glory:
from Galatians 5:6
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from I Samuel 9:2 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