a thread opens
They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
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 in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
from Leviticus 21:5
Gird yourselves, and lament, you priests: howl, you ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God: for the grain offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
from Isaiah 22:12
So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
from Joel 1:13
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.
Speak to Aaron, saying, Whoever he be of your seed in their generations that has any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
Blessed is the man whom you choose, and cause to approach to you, so that he may dwell in your courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, even of your holy temple.
from Leviticus 21:17
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips:
from Psalms 65:4
My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.
from Psalms 63:5
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
from Psalms 104:34 · a strong link
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;
from Luke 1:47
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,
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
from Jude 1:24
You have heard how I said to you, I go away, and come again to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
from John 10:29 · a strong link
Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with inexpressible joy and full of glory:
from John 14:28
Jesus says to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
from I Peter 1:8 · a strong link
Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the tomb, and he saw, and believed.
from John 20:29
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.
The look on their faces bears witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.
from Jude 1:11
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
from Isaiah 3:9 · a strong link
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
from Genesis 13:13
And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.
from Genesis 18:20
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Surely his salvation is near them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
from Luke 2:14
For I, says the LORD, will be to her a wall of fire around, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
from Psalms 85:9 · a strong link
Violence shall no more be heard in your land, wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.
from Zechariah 2:5
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
Beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.
You shall not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
from Romans 12:19 · a strong link
Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark you now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, Strike Amnon; then kill him, do not fear: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.
from Leviticus 19:18
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 II Samuel 13:28
Certain men, the wicked men, have gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known;
from Judges 19:22
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.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
from Acts 20:24
For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
from II Timothy 4:6 · a strong link
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
from Philippians 1:23 · a strong link
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conduct and godliness,
from II Corinthians 5:8
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Leviticus 21:5 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