a thread opens
Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
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 morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.
from Job 3:5
Surely you did set them in slippery places: you cast them down into destruction.
from Job 24:17
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
from Psalms 73:18
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 the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
You shall sanctify him therefore; for he offers the bread of your God: he shall be holy to you: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.
from Leviticus 3:11
And this is the thing that you shall do to them to hallow them, to minister to me in the priest’s office: Take one young bull, and two rams without blemish,
from Leviticus 21:8
But whatever has a blemish, that shall you not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.
from Exodus 29:1
And if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now to your governor; will he be pleased with you, or accept you? says the LORD of hosts.
from Leviticus 22:20 · 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,
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
from Jude 1:24
Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing in which they dealt proudly he was above them.
from John 10:29
Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
from Exodus 18:11 · a strong link
And the four living creatures had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
from Exodus 15:11 · a strong link
Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly.
from Revelation of John 4:8 · 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.
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
He sent messengers therefore to Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Look, there has a people come out from Egypt: look, they cover the face of the earth, and they remain opposite me:
from II Peter 2:15
And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
from Numbers 22:5
In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a mournful lamentation, and say, We are utterly plundered: he has changed the portion of my people: how has he removed it from me! turning away he has divided our fields.
from Numbers 23:7
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
Or let him take hold of my strength, so that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.
from Romans 5:1
Acquaint now yourself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come to you.
from Isaiah 27:5
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
If any man or woman that believes have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.
from I Timothy 5:5
But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
from I Timothy 5:16
Look, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
from I Timothy 5:8
House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.
from II Corinthians 12:14 · a strong link
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation, neither shadow due to change.
from Proverbs 19:14
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.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Then Paul answered, What mean you to weep and to break my heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me.
from Acts 21:13
Truly, truly, I say to you, When you were young, you girded yourself, and walked where you would: but when you shall be old, you shall stretch forth your hands, and another shall gird you, and carry you where you would not.
from II Peter 1:14
Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, Where I go, you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow me afterwards.
from John 21:18
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Job 3:5 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