a thread opens
And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson has come here. And they surrounded him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
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.
All nations surrounded me: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.
from Judges 16:2 · a strong link
Look, the day of the LORD comes, and your plunder shall be divided in the midst of you.
from Psalms 118:10
Look, the day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy its sinners out of it.
from Zechariah 14:1
Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless you the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD.
from Isaiah 13:9
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
But showed first to them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, so that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.
from Acts 20:21
Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance:
from Acts 26:20 · a strong link
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say to you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
from Matthew 3:8
Therefore say I to you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth its fruits.
from Luke 3:8
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 Matthew 21:43
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
from Acts 13:38 · a strong link
I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
from Luke 24:47
To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins.
from I John 2:12 · a strong link
Truly, truly, I say to you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has eternal life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death to life.
from Acts 10:43
The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
from John 5:24 · a strong link
Now he that has worked us for the very same thing is God, who also has given to us the deposit of the Spirit.
from Romans 8:16 · a strong link
a thread opens
Because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
from Acts 17:31
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
from II Peter 3:7
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips.
from Matthew 24:35 · a strong link
a thread opens
For truly against your holy child Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
By stretching forth your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of your holy child Jesus.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
from Acts 4:30
As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
from Acts 3:6
Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
from II Corinthians 6:10
a thread opens
You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you.
For circumcision truly profits, if you keep the law: but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision.
from Acts 7:51
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
from Romans 2:25
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
from Jeremiah 4:4 · a strong link
And that I also have walked contrary to them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
from Jeremiah 9:26 · a strong link
Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The LORD is righteous.
from Leviticus 26:41
a thread opens
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
But the Lord said to him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
from Acts 22:21 · a strong link
To which I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
from Acts 9:15
Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power.
from I Timothy 2:7
And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
from Ephesians 3:7
Hold to the pattern of sound teaching, which you have heard of me, in faith and love in Christ Jesus.
from I Timothy 1:14
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write to you of the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write to you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.
from II Timothy 1:13
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Judges 16:2 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