a thread opens
Come near to me, hear this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, has sent me.
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.
I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not to the seed of Jacob, Seek me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
from Isaiah 48:16 · a strong link
For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel, Seek me, and you shall live:
from Isaiah 45:19
Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
from Amos 5:4
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 the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
Neither from a stranger’s hand shall you offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.
from Leviticus 3:11
You shall sanctify him therefore; for he offers the bread of your God: he shall be holy to you: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.
from Leviticus 22:25
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
from Leviticus 21:8
For both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for this reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
from John 17:19
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,
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
from Ephesians 5:27
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, since you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
from II Peter 3:14 · a strong link
Cast your burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain you: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
from I Corinthians 15:58 · a strong link
Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than apparel?
from Psalms 55:22 · 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.
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why he slew him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.
from I John 3:12
Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hate you.
from Proverbs 29:27
If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.
from I John 3:13 · a strong link
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
from Luke 2:14
For the kingdom of God is not food and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
from Romans 5:1 · a strong link
And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Spirit.
from Romans 14:17 · 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?
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to repay with affliction those who afflict you;
from Luke 18:7
If I sharpen my glittering sword, and my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
from II Thessalonians 1:6
If he turn not, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent his bow, and made it ready.
from Deuteronomy 32:41
Repent you therefore, and be converted, so that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
from Psalms 7:12
Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
from Acts 3:19
Look, for peace I had great bitterness: but you have in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
from Psalms 51:9
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.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Long time therefore remained they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony to the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
from Acts 20:24
And now, Lord, look on their threatenings: and grant to your servants, that with all boldness they may speak your word,
from Acts 14:3
But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
from Acts 4:29
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days.
from Acts 9:27
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 48:16 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