a thread opens
And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house around upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead.
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.
Now as they were making their hearts merry, look, the men of the city, certain wicked men, beset the house around, and beat at the door, and spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into your house, that we may know him.
from Judges 20:5 · a strong link
And what concord has Christ with Belial? or what part has he that believes with an infidel?
from Judges 19:22
When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
from II Corinthians 6:15
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 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
And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma: all the fat is the LORD’s.
from Leviticus 3:11
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, You shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.
from Leviticus 3:16
And he shall take off from it all the fat of the young bull for the sin offering; the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat upon the entrails,
from Leviticus 7:23
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
Therefore, my brothers, you also have become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, so that we should bring forth fruit to God.
from Colossians 1:22
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end eternal life.
from Romans 7:4
Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.
from Romans 6:22 · a strong link
Stand firm therefore in the freedom with which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of slavery.
from Romans 6:18
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.
And in process of time it happened, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
from Jude 1:11
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer to the LORD, them have I given you.
from Genesis 4:3
The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk.
from Numbers 18:12
You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you shall give it to the stranger in your gates, so that he may eat it; or you may sell it to an alien: for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk.
from Exodus 34:26
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
Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
from Romans 5:1
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.
from Romans 15:33
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?
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
from Luke 18:7 · a strong link
Rejoice over her, you heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets; for God has avenged you on her.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.
And I saw, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
from Revelation of John 12:12 · a strong link
The second woe is past; and indeed, the third woe comes quickly.
from Revelation of John 8:13 · a strong link
One woe is past; and there come two woes more hereafter.
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
Because your loving devotion is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
from Psalms 73:25 · a strong link
For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
from Psalms 63:3
For you will not leave my soul in hell; neither will you suffer your Holy One to see corruption.
from Philippians 1:23
Saying, Leave us alone; what have we to do with you, you Jesus of Nazareth? have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are; the Holy One of God.
from Psalms 16:10
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Judges 20:5 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