a thread opens
Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
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.
And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
from John 19:23
Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his apparel, and cast lots.
from Matthew 27:35
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes.
from Luke 23:34
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.
No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
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 21:21
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
Many of them also which used sorcery brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
from Deuteronomy 18:10
So likewise, whoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has, he cannot be my disciple.
from Acts 19:19
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,
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
The thief comes not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
from Ephesians 3:20 · a strong link
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who secretly shall bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
from John 10:10 · a strong link
I know your works, and where you dwell, even where Satan’s seat is: and you hold fast my name, and have not denied my faith, even in those days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells.
from II Peter 2:1
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
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
Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,
from Numbers 31:16
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 Joshua 22:17
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
And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
from Acts 10:36
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
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?
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great reward.
from Luke 18:7
For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty;
from Hebrews 10:35
He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
from Hebrews 2:2 · a strong link
It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.
from Hebrews 10:28
At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
from John 8:17
Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
from Deuteronomy 17:6 · 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.
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
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
And before the throne there was a sea of glass like to crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind.
from Revelation of John 15:2 · a strong link
And they sang as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
from Revelation of John 14:3 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from John 19:23 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