a thread opens
Do not fear: for I am with you: I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west;
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.
Thus says the LORD that made you, and formed you from the womb, which will help you; Do not fear, O Jacob, my servant; and you, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.
from Isaiah 43:5
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy, and find favor to help in time of need.
from Isaiah 44:2 · a strong link
For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
from Hebrews 4:16 · 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.
No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
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 21:21
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
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,
Now to him that is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
I have come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yes, drink abundantly, O beloved.
from Ephesians 3:20
Awake, O north wind; and come, you south; blow upon my garden, so that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
from Song of Solomon 5:1
My beloved has gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
from Song of Solomon 4:16 · a strong link
His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
from Song of Solomon 6:2 · 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.
Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
He sent messengers therefore to Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Look, there has a people come out from Egypt: look, they cover the face of the earth, and they remain opposite me:
from II Peter 2:15
And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
from Numbers 22:5
And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God does this!
from Numbers 23:7
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Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moves in it.
from Luke 2:14
Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
from Psalms 69:34 · a strong link
For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
from Isaiah 49:13
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And shall not God give justice to his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
from Luke 18:7 · a strong link
For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he sees that their power has gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
For the LORD will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.
from Deuteronomy 32:36 · a strong link
He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, so that he may judge his people.
from Psalms 135:14
Hear now what the LORD says; Arise, contend before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
from Psalms 50:4
Hear, all you people; listen, O earth, and all that is in it: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
from Micah 6:1 · a strong link
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 father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
from Matthew 10:37 · a strong link
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
from Philippians 3:7
Therefore I love your commandments above gold; yes, above fine gold.
from Proverbs 23:23
More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
from Psalms 119:127
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 43:5 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