a thread opens
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
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.
And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be your name:
from James 1:1
And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.
from I Kings 18:31
And command you them, saying, Take hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and you shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where you shall lodge this night.
from Joshua 4:20 · a strong link
And it shall happen, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon a heap.
from Joshua 4:3
And with the blast of your nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as a heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
from Joshua 3:13 · a strong link
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
Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.
from Isaiah 44:6 · a strong link
Look, the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up its towers, they raised up its palaces; and he brought it to ruin.
from Isaiah 43:14
The king spoke, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?
from Isaiah 23:13
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.
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a fragrant offering.
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
from Ephesians 5:2
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
from Romans 8:3
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.
Being born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, by the word of God, which lives and remains for ever.
from I John 2:27
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
from I Peter 1:23 · a strong link
Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
from John 1:13
And to the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, so that I might gain them that are under the law;
from Romans 10:1
Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.
from I Corinthians 9:20 · a strong link
But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:
from Acts 16:3 · a strong link
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
That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior:
from Ephesians 3:5 · a strong link
For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
from II Peter 3:2
But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.
from II Peter 2:21 · a strong link
And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
from Ezekiel 18:24
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.
But the LORD said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.
from I Chronicles 29:17
But, O LORD of hosts, that try the righteous, and see the inmost thoughts and the heart, let me see your vengeance on them: for to you have I opened my cause.
from I Samuel 16:7 · a strong link
The LORD tries the righteous: but the wicked and him that loves violence his soul hates.
from Jeremiah 20:12
Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him.
from Psalms 11:5 · 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:
The place of the Scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb mute before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
from I Corinthians 5:7
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is mute, so he opens not his mouth.
from Acts 8:32 · a strong link
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judges righteously:
from Isaiah 53:7 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from James 1:1 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