a thread opens
For Tophet is ordained of old; yes, for the king it is prepared; he has made it deep and large: its pile is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, does kindle it.
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.
For certain people have crept in unnoticed, who were long ago designated for this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into sensuality, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
from Isaiah 30:33
When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;
from Jude 1:4
Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
from II Samuel 22:5
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 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.
from Leviticus 10:3
What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
from Exodus 14:4 · a strong link
The LORD has made all things for himself: yes, even the wicked for the day of evil.
from Romans 9:22 · a strong link
And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: to which also they were appointed.
from Proverbs 16:4 · a strong link
But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness;
from I Peter 2:8
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 1:23 · 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,
But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.
from Jude 1:24
The elders among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
from I Peter 4:13
And you are witnesses of these things.
from I Peter 5:1 · a strong link
Not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
from Luke 24:48 · a strong link
Judas says to him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?
from Acts 10:41 · 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.
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
And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.
from Numbers 31:8 · a strong link
And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, which were chiefs of Sihon, dwelling in the country.
from Numbers 25:15
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
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich.
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?
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to repay with affliction those who afflict you;
from Luke 18:7
If I sharpen my glittering sword, and my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
from II Thessalonians 1:6
For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
from Deuteronomy 32:41
In that day the LORD with his grievous and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon in the sea.
from Isaiah 66:16
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Are you not it that has cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
from Isaiah 27:1 · a strong link
He divides the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smites through the proud.
from Isaiah 51:9
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
Then they said, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
from Deuteronomy 33:9
Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
from Jeremiah 18:18
He devises mischief upon his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he abhors not evil.
from Micah 2:1 · a strong link
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cling to that which is good.
from Psalms 36:4
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 30:33 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