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Learn to do good; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
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.
Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
from Isaiah 1:17
You shall not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s apparel to pledge:
from Psalms 82:3
You shall neither trouble a stranger, nor oppress him: for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
from Deuteronomy 24:17
Also you shall not oppress a stranger: for you know the heart of a stranger, seeing you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
from Exodus 22:21 · a strong link
Cursed be he that perverts the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
from Exodus 23:9
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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.
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
from I Corinthians 8:4
Seeing it is one God, who shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
from Mark 12:29
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which works by love.
from Romans 3:30
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
from Galatians 5:6 · a strong link
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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.
Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.
from I John 3:16
An overseer then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
from Acts 20:28
Let not a widow be taken into the number under sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,
from I Timothy 3:2 · a strong link
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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.
Being born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, by the word of God, which lives and remains for ever.
from I John 2:27
But the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you.
from I Peter 1:23
The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
from I Peter 1:25
For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, so that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
from Isaiah 40:8
These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
from Isaiah 55:10
But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
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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.
Obey your leaders, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
from I Corinthians 12:28 · a strong link
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.
from Hebrews 13:17 · a strong link
Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
from I Timothy 5:17
These all continued together in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
from I Corinthians 9:5
It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things to the apostles.
from Acts 1:14
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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.
For we have great joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.
from I Chronicles 29:17
The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus; for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:
from Philemon 1:7
Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord: refresh my heart in the Lord.
from II Timothy 1:16
Therefore, my brothers beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
from Philemon 1:20
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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:
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is mute, so he opens not his mouth.
from I Corinthians 5:7
Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.
from Isaiah 53:7
And he answered him to never a word; so that the governor marveled greatly.
from Luke 23:9
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 1:17 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