a thread opens
My flesh and my skin has he made old; he has broken my bones.
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.
Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: my eye is consumed with grief, yes, my soul and my belly.
from Lamentations 3:4
My eye is consumed because of grief; it grows old because of all my enemies.
from Psalms 31:9 · a strong link
My eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.
from Psalms 6:7
My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
from Job 17:7
As many were astonished at you; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
from Job 16:16
a thread opens
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
from I Corinthians 8:4
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
from Ephesians 4:6
And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.
from Ephesians 3:17
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon your seed, and my blessing upon your offspring:
from Romans 5:5
a thread opens
By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.
from I John 3:16
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.
from Acts 20:28
The farmer that labors must be first to receive a share of the crops.
from I Timothy 5:17
a thread opens
But the anointing which you have received of him remains in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall remain in him.
But the Helper, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.
from I John 2:27 · a strong link
Guard the good deposit entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us.
from John 14:26
For this reason I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him for that day.
from II Timothy 1:14
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God to salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
from II Timothy 1:12
To you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
from Romans 1:16
And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
from Acts 3:26
a thread opens
And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, varieties of tongues.
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone;
from I Corinthians 12:28
And I say also to you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
from Ephesians 2:20 · a strong link
Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
from Matthew 16:18
And going on from there, he saw other two brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
from Matthew 10:2
And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
from Matthew 4:21
a thread opens
I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly to you.
For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conduct in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
from I Chronicles 29:17
And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men.
from II Corinthians 1:12
Now the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of sincere faith:
from Acts 24:16
Owe no one anything, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the law.
from I Timothy 1:5
a thread opens
Clean out therefore the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, Look, the Lamb of God!
from I Corinthians 5:7
Looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
from John 1:36
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross.
from Hebrews 12:2
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Lamentations 3:4 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