a thread opens
A woman when she is in labor has sorrow, because her hour has come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
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.
Ask now, and see whether a man does toil with child? why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in labor, and all faces are turned into paleness?
from John 16:21
Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in labor.
from Jeremiah 30:6
The sorrows of a laboring woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.
from Psalms 48:6
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
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
from Isaiah 49:3
Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen:
from I Peter 2:9
Therefore fear not, O my servant Jacob, says the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, look, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
from Isaiah 44:1
No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up on it, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
from Jeremiah 30:10
And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and you shall be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
from Isaiah 35:9
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
Who gave himself for us, so that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works.
from Colossians 1:22
And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
from Titus 2:14 · a strong link
Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases;
from Psalms 130:8
Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
from Psalms 103:3
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.
The look on their faces bears witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.
from Jude 1:11
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
from Isaiah 3:9 · a strong link
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
from Genesis 13:13
For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is grown great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.
from Genesis 18:20
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
from Luke 2:14
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
from Acts 10:36
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
from Acts 2:36
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
And he spoke a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
from I Timothy 5:5
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart;
from Luke 18:1
Therefore I desire that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
from II Corinthians 4:1
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
from Ephesians 3:13
Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:
from Isaiah 40:30
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.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cling to the Lord.
from Acts 20:24
But you have fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, perseverance, love, patience,
from Acts 11:23
If you put the brothers in remembrance of these things, you shall be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, to which you have attained.
from II Timothy 3:10 · a strong link
All my circumstances shall Tychicus declare to you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord:
from I Timothy 4:6
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from John 16:21 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