a thread opens
Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you that have escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their carved image, and pray to a god that cannot save.
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.
Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.
from Isaiah 45:20
They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
from Isaiah 46:1
The smith with the tongs both works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with the strength of his arms: yes, he is hungry, and his strength fails: he drinks no water, and is faint.
from Isaiah 41:6
They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he makes it a god: they fall down, yes, they worship.
from Isaiah 44:12
Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of skilled men.
from Isaiah 46:6
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.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
from I Corinthians 8:4 · a strong link
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
from Deuteronomy 6:4 · a strong link
Neither is there any umpire between us, that might lay his hand upon us both.
from I Timothy 2:5
If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall pray for him? However they listened not to the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.
from Job 9:33 · 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.
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
For you were once darkness, but now are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
from I John 1:7 · a strong link
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 is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
from I John 2:27
Of his own will he fathered us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
from Hebrews 8:10
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
from James 1:18
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.
from I Peter 1:3
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.
from I John 5:4
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.
from Revelation of John 12:11 · a strong link
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.
Which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
from I Corinthians 12:28
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the knowledge of the truth which is after godliness;
from Ephesians 3:5
But Aaron and his sons offered upon the altar of the burnt offering, and on the altar of incense, and were appointed for all the work of the place most holy, and to make an atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.
from Titus 1:1
And you shall make an altar to burn incense upon: of acacia wood shall you make it.
from I Chronicles 6:49
And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, so that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar before the throne.
from Exodus 30:1
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.
And you, Solomon my son, know you the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off for ever.
from I Chronicles 29:17 · a strong link
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
from I Chronicles 28:9 · a strong link
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
from Jeremiah 31:34
And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.
from Habakkuk 2:14 · a strong link
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:
For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
from I Corinthians 5:7
For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
from I Corinthians 10:17
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling;
from I Corinthians 12:12
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 45:20 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