a thread opens
Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
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.
Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even to the tower of Meah they sanctified it, to the tower of Hananeel.
from John 5:2 · a strong link
And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.
from Nehemiah 3:1
And it was so, when the days of their feasting had gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
from Nehemiah 12:30
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
Command the children of Israel, and say to them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a pleasing aroma to me, shall you observe to offer to me in their due season.
from Leviticus 3:11
And the LORD smelled a pleasing aroma; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again strike any more everything living, as I have done.
from Numbers 28:2
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
from Genesis 8:21 · a strong link
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
from Jeremiah 17:9 · 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,
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
My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations;
from I Peter 4:13 · a strong link
In which you greatly rejoice, though now for a while, if need be, you are in grief through manifold temptations:
from James 1:2 · a strong link
Look, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.
from I Peter 1:6
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 Isaiah 12:2
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.
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
from Jude 1:11
Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons.
from Numbers 16:1
Look, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.
from Numbers 27:3
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?
from Ezekiel 18:4 · a strong link
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 Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.
from Acts 10:36 · a strong link
Jesus says to him, You have said: nevertheless I say to you, Hereafter shall you see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
from Matthew 28:18
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?
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to repay with affliction those who afflict you;
from Luke 18:7
If I sharpen my glittering sword, and my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
from II Thessalonians 1:6
In that day the LORD with his grievous and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon in the sea.
from Deuteronomy 32:41
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
from Isaiah 27:1
And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the prostitute, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Look, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
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
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
from Matthew 5:8 · a strong link
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, since you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
from Psalms 51:10 · a strong link
For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and seeing your order, and the stability of your faith in Christ.
from I Corinthians 15:58 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from John 5:2 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