a thread opens
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
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.
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
from I Thessalonians 4:17
Therefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted by him.
from II Corinthians 5:8
Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
from II Corinthians 5:9
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 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
And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.
from Leviticus 20:2
For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty;
from Leviticus 24:23
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,
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
from Jude 1:24
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
from Hebrews 13:20
Therefore the Lord said, Since this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
from Hebrews 10:22
Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
from Isaiah 29:13 · a strong link
Beware lest any man take you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, after the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, and not after Christ.
from Matthew 15:2
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.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
from Jude 1:11
Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
Yes, and why even of yourselves judge you not what is right?
from Romans 14:13 · a strong link
For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not: but the publicans and the prostitutes believed him: and you, when you had seen it, repented not afterward, that you might believe him.
from Luke 12:57
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And every creature in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be to him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever.
from Luke 2:14
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.
For you, LORD, are high above all the earth: you are exalted far above all gods.
from I Chronicles 29:11
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
But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
from Psalms 88:1
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
from Titus 3:4
That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
from Ephesians 2:4 · a strong link
And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
from Ephesians 2:7
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who secretly shall bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
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.
He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For the love of Christ compels us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
from Matthew 10:37
For none of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself.
from II Corinthians 5:14
For I through the law am dead to the law, so that I might live to God.
from Romans 14:7
And that he died for all, so that they which live should no longer live to themselves, but to him which died for them, and rose again.
from Galatians 2:19
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from I Thessalonians 4:17 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