a thread opens
O Zion, that bring good tidings, get you up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, Look, your God!
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 it shall be said in that day, Look, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
from Isaiah 40:9
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
from Isaiah 25:9
In the day when I cried you answered me, and strengthened me with strength in my soul.
from Psalms 27:14 · a strong link
In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
from Psalms 138:3 · a strong link
But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
from Psalms 18:6
a thread opens
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.
Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, and he that formed you from the womb, I am the LORD that makes all things; that stretches forth the heavens alone; that spreads abroad the earth by myself;
from I Corinthians 8:4
Thus says God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which comes out of it; he that gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk in it:
from Isaiah 44:24 · a strong link
It is he that builds his stories in the heaven, and has founded his troop in the earth; he that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.
from Isaiah 42:5
Who lays the beams of his rooms in the waters: who makes the clouds his chariot: who walks upon the wings of the wind:
from Amos 9:6 · a strong link
a thread opens
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.
A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God.
from John 13:34 · a strong link
He that loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
from I John 4:7
a thread opens
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.
For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, because, when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which is at work also in you that believe.
from I John 2:27
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
from I Thessalonians 2:13
And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great famine throughout all the world: which happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.
from Romans 1:8
And as we stayed there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet, named Agabus.
from Acts 11:28 · a strong link
And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.
from Acts 21:10
And it happened, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,
from Acts 21:4
a thread opens
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.
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 Corinthians 12:28
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
from Acts 20:28
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 Acts 14:23
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away.
from I Peter 5:1
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
from I Peter 5:4
a thread opens
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.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and says of him, Look, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
from I Chronicles 29:17
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
from John 1:47
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,
My Father, who gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
from Jude 1:24
a thread opens
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
But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said to him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
from Isaiah 53:7 · a strong link
And Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
from Mark 14:61
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 40:9 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