a thread opens
Produce your cause, says the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob.
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.
Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
from Isaiah 41:21
Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
from Job 23:3
Oh that one would hear me! look, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that my adversary had written a book.
from Job 13:3
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
Yes, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which you made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
from Leviticus 18:21
But you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which you made to yourselves.
from Acts 7:43
And the altars on the top of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and broke them down from there, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
from Amos 5:26
And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.
from II Kings 23:12 · 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
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death;
from I Peter 4:13 · a strong link
For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our comfort also abounds by Christ.
from Philippians 3:10 · a strong link
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and complete what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
from II Corinthians 1:5 · a strong link
Therefore I desire that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
from Colossians 1:24
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 the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:
from Jude 1:11
These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.
from Numbers 26:9 · a strong link
And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.
from Numbers 1:16
And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
from Numbers 1:4
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
from Luke 2:14
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
from Acts 10:36
Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
from Revelation of John 17:14 · 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?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies.
from Luke 18:7
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now has come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brothers is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
from Romans 8:33 · a strong link
And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
from Zechariah 3:1 · a strong link
Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all they that had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set out the work of the house of the LORD.
from Haggai 1:1
But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel, said to them, You have nothing to do with us to build a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.
from Ezra 3:8
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.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Because your loving devotion is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
from Psalms 73:25 · a strong link
For his anger endures but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
from Psalms 63:3
He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
from Psalms 30:5 · a strong link
Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, you backsliding Israel, says the LORD; and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, says the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
from Psalms 103:9
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 41:21 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