a thread opens
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
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.
Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and plunder his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will plunder his house.
from Isaiah 49:24
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the plunder with the strong; because he has poured out his soul to death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
from Matthew 12:29
For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
from Isaiah 53:12
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.
And say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Look, I am against you, O Sidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of you: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
from Leviticus 10:3
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.
from Ezekiel 28:22
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
from Exodus 14:4 · a strong link
And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.
from Exodus 7:5 · a strong link
Then shall you return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves him not.
from Exodus 8:22
And it shall happen, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
from Malachi 3:18
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 the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
from Jude 1:24
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
from Hebrews 13:20 · a strong link
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
from John 10:11 · a strong link
And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall remain: for now shall he be great to the ends of the earth.
from Isaiah 40:11 · a strong link
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.
from Micah 5:4
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 in process of time it happened, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
from Jude 1:11
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer to the LORD, them have I given you.
from Genesis 4:3
The firstfruit also of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, shall you give him.
from Numbers 18:12
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest:
from Deuteronomy 18:4
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and its fullness.
from Luke 2:14
The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be its glad.
from Psalms 96:11
Say among the pagans that the LORD reigns: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
from Psalms 97:1 · 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?
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
from Luke 18:7
And they shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
Then they took Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
from Jeremiah 1:19
Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
from Jeremiah 38:6
So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
from Jeremiah 37:21 · a strong link
And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in to him,
from Jeremiah 38:13
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.
Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
from Luke 14:26
And they sent out to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God in truth, neither care you for any man: for you regard not the person of men.
from Deuteronomy 33:9
And the Pharisees went forth, and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
from Matthew 22:16 · a strong link
And they send to him some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.
from Mark 3:6 · a strong link
And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, so that they might take hold of his words, so that so they might deliver him to the power and authority of the governor.
from Mark 12:13
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 49:24 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