a thread opens
My people has been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
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.
But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
from Jeremiah 50:6 · a strong link
For you were as sheep going astray; but are now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
from Matthew 10:6
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
from I Peter 2:25 · a strong link
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.
They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
from Leviticus 10:3
And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or a fortune-teller, or a spellcaster, or a sorceress,
from Leviticus 18:21
So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a medium, to inquire of it;
from Deuteronomy 18:10
And when they shall say to you, Seek to mediums, and to spiritists that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek to their God? for the living to the dead?
from I Chronicles 10:13
And you shall be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and your speech shall be low out of the dust, and your voice shall be, as of one that is a medium, out of the ground, and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
from Isaiah 8:19
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,
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight:
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, so that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
from Colossians 1:22
And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
from Ephesians 1:4
And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
from Acts 13:48
And he said, It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.
from John 11:52
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
They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.
from II Peter 2:15
And Elijah came to all the people, and said, How long halt you between two opinions? if the LORD is God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
from Proverbs 28:4
And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts to the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
from I Kings 18:21 · a strong link
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
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
from Isaiah 9:6 · a strong link
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
from Romans 8:32 · a strong link
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?
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
from Luke 18:7 · a strong link
Beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.
But I say to you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
from Romans 12:19
See that none repay evil for evil to any man; but always seek to do good, both among yourselves, and to all people.
from Luke 6:27 · a strong link
Not rendering evil for evil, or insult for insult: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that you are called to this, so that you should inherit a blessing.
from I Thessalonians 5:15 · a strong link
Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
from I Peter 3:9 · 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.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
from Psalms 73:25
For now we see in a mirror, dimly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
from Matthew 5:8 · a strong link
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
from I Corinthians 13:12 · a strong link
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
from I John 3:2
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Jeremiah 50:6 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