a thread opens
For you have broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
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.
That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
from Isaiah 9:4 · a strong link
For now will I break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds apart.
from Isaiah 14:25
And it shall happen in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
from Nahum 1:13
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
Then Jesus said to Peter, Put up your sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it?
from II Samuel 16:10
But Jesus answered and said, You know not what you ask. Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say to him, We are able.
from John 18:11 · a strong link
Thus says your Lord the LORD, and your God that pleads the cause of his people, Look, I have taken out of your hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; you shall no more drink it again:
from Matthew 20:22
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which have drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; you have drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.
from Isaiah 51:22 · a strong link
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 they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
from I Peter 4:13
Look, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for trouble of spirit.
from Acts 5:41
All the earth shall worship you, and shall sing to you; they shall sing to your name. Selah.
from Isaiah 65:14
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before you.
from Psalms 66:4 · 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.
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
from Jude 1:11
And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
from Numbers 16:1
The son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah,
from Exodus 6:21
And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign.
from I Chronicles 6:37
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
In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endures.
from Isaiah 9:6 · a strong link
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
from Psalms 72:7
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?
Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.
from Luke 18:7
And she was a widow of about eighty and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
from I Timothy 5:5 · a strong link
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
from Luke 2:37
And now, brothers, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
from Acts 14:23
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 20:32
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and to that end with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
from Acts 14:3
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.
Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as rubbish, so that I may win Christ,
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
And this is life eternal, so that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
from Philippians 3:8 · a strong link
And this is the testimony, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
from John 17:3 · a strong link
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? you have the words of eternal life.
from I John 5:11
It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.
from John 6:68
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Isaiah 9:4 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