a thread opens
Even to them will I give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
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.
Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why do you weep? and why do you not eat? and why is your heart grieved? am not I better to you than ten sons?
from Isaiah 56:5
And he shall be to you a restorer of your life, and a nourisher of your old age: for your daughter-in-law, which loves you, which is better to you than seven sons, has born him.
from I Samuel 1:8 · a strong link
And Joseph nourished his father, and his brothers, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
from Ruth 4:15
And there will I nourish you; for yet there are five years of famine; lest you, and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty.
from Genesis 47:12
And he said to them, Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.
from Genesis 45:11
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.
Thus says the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
from I Corinthians 8:4
Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
from Isaiah 44:6 · a strong link
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
from Isaiah 41:4 · a strong link
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and to him shall the gathering of the people be.
from Isaiah 46:10
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.
Who have for my life laid down their own necks: to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
from I John 3:16
John to the seven churches in Asia: Grace be to you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits before his throne;
from Romans 16:4
And out of the throne proceeded lightning and thunder and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
from Revelation of John 1:4 · 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
Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
from Hebrews 8:10
For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all the nations upon the earth.
from Exodus 19:5 · a strong link
And the LORD has avouched you this day to be a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments;
from Deuteronomy 14:2 · a strong link
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 Deuteronomy 26:18 · a strong link
You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
from Deuteronomy 7:6
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
And he said to them, You know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to associate, or come to one of another nation; but God has showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
from Ephesians 3:5
Then says the woman of Samaria to him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
from Acts 10:28 · a strong link
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
from John 4:9
And forgive your people that have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, so that they may have compassion on them:
from Luke 10:33
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.
For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conduct in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
from I Chronicles 29:17
And Paul, earnestly seeing the council, said, Men and brothers, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
from II Corinthians 1:12
Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.
from Acts 23:1
Brothers, pray for us.
from Hebrews 13:18 · 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
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you are called in one body; and be thankful.
from I Corinthians 10:17
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
from Colossians 3:15
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 56:5 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