a thread opens
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
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.
When evening came, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple:
from Isaiah 53:9 · a strong link
And after this Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, begged Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
from Matthew 27:57
These words spoke his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
from John 19:38
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
I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD.
from II Samuel 3:39
As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.
from Psalms 101:8
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,
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
from Jude 1:24
All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.
from John 10:29
Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am; that they may see my glory, which you have given me: for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
from John 6:37 · a strong link
And you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; and you shall haste and bring down my father here.
from John 17:24
Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, sixty and fifteen souls.
from Genesis 45:13 · 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
They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.
from II Peter 2:15
For John said to him, It is not lawful for you to have her.
from Proverbs 28:4
And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing: he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.
from Matthew 14:4 · a strong link
a thread opens
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
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?
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great reward.
from Luke 18:7
For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.
from Hebrews 10:35 · a strong link
Do not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap.
from Galatians 6:8
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that says in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
from Galatians 6:7 · a strong link
We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.
from Obadiah 1:3
Thus says the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
from Isaiah 16:6
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
Then they said, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
from Deuteronomy 33:9
He takes the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the perverse is carried headlong.
from Jeremiah 18:18
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He takes the wise in their own craftiness.
from Job 5:13
However we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nothing:
from I Corinthians 3:19 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 53:9 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