a thread opens
O you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, look, I will lay your stones with fair colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
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.
Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the bronze for things of bronze, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of various colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.
from Isaiah 54:11
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where you go.
from I Chronicles 29:2
For in death there is no remembrance of you: in the grave who shall give you thanks?
from Ecclesiastes 9:10 · 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.
And said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
from Leviticus 10:3
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
from Isaiah 49:3
For you are a holy people to the LORD your God: the LORD your God has chosen you to be a special people to himself, above all people upon the face of the earth.
from I Peter 2:9 · a strong link
And to make you high above all nations which he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, as he has spoken.
from Deuteronomy 7:6 · a strong link
And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and you shall be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
from Deuteronomy 26:19
Let your conduct be without greed; and be content with such things as you have: for he has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.
from Isaiah 62:12
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,
But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.
from Jude 1:24
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience;
from I Peter 4:13
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
from Romans 5:3 · a strong link
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience.
from II Corinthians 4:17 · a strong link
Therefore seeing we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
from James 1:3
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
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks.
from I John 3:12 · a strong link
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.
from Hebrews 11:4 · a strong link
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
from Hebrews 12:24
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
from Luke 2:14
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth was.
from Isaiah 9:6 · a strong link
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
from Proverbs 8:23
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
Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
O my God, I trust in you: let me not be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me.
from Jeremiah 17:18
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.
from Psalms 25:2
For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the dividing wall between us;
from Isaiah 26:3 · a strong link
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you are called in one body; and be thankful.
from Ephesians 2:14
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
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
from Acts 20:24 · a strong link
I tell you, No: but, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.
from Acts 20:21
And saying, Repent you: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
from Luke 13:3
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
from Matthew 3:2 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 54:11 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