a thread opens
For, look, I have made you this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.
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.
For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
from Jeremiah 1:18
And it happened, when the time had come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
from Isaiah 50:7
Then he took to him the twelve, and said to them, Look, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
from Luke 9:51
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
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you, and your fellows that sit before you: for they are men wondered at: for, look, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
from Isaiah 49:3
And speak to him, saying, Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, Look, the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
from Zechariah 3:8 · a strong link
And I say also to you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
from Zechariah 6:12
A Song of Ascents. They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but remains for ever.
from Matthew 16:18
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace; that brings good tidings of good, that publishes salvation; that says to Zion, Your God reigns!
from Psalms 125:1
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 if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if perhaps we suffer with him, so that we may be also glorified together.
from I Peter 4:13 · a strong link
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
from Romans 8:17
My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: since before him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done no hurt.
from Hebrews 1:14
And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he had come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.
from Daniel 6:22
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.
Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
Look, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
from II Peter 2:15
Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the LORD your God has destroyed them from among you.
from Numbers 31:16
And Israel remained in Acacia, and the people began to commit prostitution with the daughters of Moab.
from Deuteronomy 4:3
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
from Luke 1:79
The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
from Psalms 107:10
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
And they shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
from Jeremiah 1:19 · a strong link
Be strong and courageous, do not fear, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD your God, he it is that does go with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you.
from Jeremiah 1:8
Then I said to you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
from Deuteronomy 31:6 · a strong link
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
For whoever will save his life shall lose it; but whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
from John 12:25 · a strong link
He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.
from Mark 8:35
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 now, little children, remain in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
from Philippians 1:20
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Jeremiah 1:18 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