a thread opens
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment to truth.
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.
The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of the learned, so that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as the learned.
from Isaiah 42:3
I rose before the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in your word.
from Isaiah 50:4 · a strong link
My voice shall you hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer to you, and will look up.
from Psalms 119:147 · a strong link
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.
I was mute, I opened not my mouth; because you did it.
from Leviticus 10:3
And the king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD has said to him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Why have you done so?
from Psalms 39:9
And David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be adversaries to me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?
from II Samuel 16:10 · a strong link
And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the LORD shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.
from II Samuel 19:22
Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his belt that was about his loins, and in his shoes on his feet.
from II Samuel 3:39
And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and struck him there in the stomach, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.
from I Kings 2:5 · 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
Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, so that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
from I Peter 4:13 · a strong link
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
from II Corinthians 4:10 · a strong link
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek those things above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God.
from Romans 6:5
But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
from Colossians 3:1 · 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 now, look, I go to my people: come therefore, and I will inform you what this people shall do to your people in the latter days.
And Jacob called to his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
from Numbers 24:14
After this I looked, and look, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up here, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.
from Genesis 49:1
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: look, your King comes to you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt the foal of a donkey.
from Colossians 1:20
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
from Zechariah 9:9
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
For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations around.
from Psalms 88:1
Look, I have done according to your words: look, I have given you a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like you before you, neither after you shall any arise like you.
from I Kings 4:31
So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
from I Kings 3:12
To me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, so that I should preach among the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ;
from I Kings 10:23
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
from Ephesians 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.
He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For whoever will save his life shall lose it; but whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
from John 12:25 · a strong link
And this I do for the gospel’s sake, so that I might be its partaker with you.
from Mark 8:35
Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
from I Corinthians 9:23
Therefore I desire that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
from II Timothy 2:10
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 42:3 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