a thread opens
Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
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.
Surely common people are vanity, and people of rank are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
from James 1:9
Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver you up.
from Psalms 62:9
Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.
from I Samuel 23:12
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
Look, my servant, whom I uphold; my elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
from Isaiah 49:3
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
from Isaiah 42:1 · a strong link
The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
from Isaiah 61:1 · a strong link
The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
from Psalms 69:32 · a strong link
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Look, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry: look, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty: look, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed:
from Psalms 22:26
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,
Now to him that is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
For so an entrance shall be ministered to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
from Ephesians 3:20
Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
from II Peter 1:11
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
from Matthew 25:34
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
from Revelation of John 13:8 · 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.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
from Jude 1:11
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and sexually immoral people, and murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loves and makes a lie.
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
Yet you say, Why? Because the LORD has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously: yet is she your companion, and the wife of your covenant.
from Malachi 3:5
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
from Luke 2:14
These things I have spoken to you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but take courage; I have overcome the world.
from Romans 5:1
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a while;
from John 16:33
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?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies.
from Luke 18:7
He is near that justifies me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is my adversary? let him come near to me.
from Romans 8:33 · a strong link
Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
from Isaiah 50:8
They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
from Isaiah 41:1
Proclaim this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the warriors draw near; let them come up:
from Isaiah 41:6
Associate yourselves, O you people, and you shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all you of far countries: gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces.
from Joel 3:9
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.
He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.
from John 12:25 · a strong link
According to my eager expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
from Matthew 10:39
And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.
from Philippians 1:20
For this reason I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him for that day.
from Romans 5:5
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from James 1:9 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