a thread opens
And there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
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.
But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.
from Luke 13:30 · a strong link
Whether of them two did the will of his father? They say to him, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, That the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
from Matthew 19:30
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some men count slowness; but is patience toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
from Matthew 21:31
However for this cause I obtained mercy, so that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all patience, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to eternal life.
from II Peter 3:9
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love to all the saints,
from Acts 20:21
Hearing of your love and faith, which you have toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints;
from Ephesians 1:15 · a strong link
Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have to all the saints,
from Philemon 1:5 · a strong link
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
from Colossians 1:4
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
from I Thessalonians 1:3
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
Him has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
from Acts 13:38
Look, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
from Acts 5:31
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
from Jeremiah 31:31 · a strong link
Who are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
from Jeremiah 32:40
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
from I Peter 1:5
In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do to me.
from Romans 8:31 · 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.
And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
from Acts 17:31
Before the LORD; for he comes to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
from Psalms 9:8
Before the LORD: for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
from Psalms 98:9
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,
And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
from Matthew 27:2
After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.
from Luke 13:1
And it happened in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
from Acts 5:37
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 the LORD had said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, You are a stiff-necked people: I will come up into the midst of you in a moment, and consume you: therefore now put off your ornaments from you, so that I may know what to do to you.
from Acts 7:51 · a strong link
In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.
from Exodus 33:5
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
from Job 34:20
And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
from Daniel 5:30
The stouthearted are plundered, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.
from Jeremiah 51:57
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
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 Acts 9:15 · a strong link
By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
from Ephesians 3:7
But now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
from Romans 1:5 · a strong link
(Which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy Scriptures,)
from Romans 16:26
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
from Romans 1:2 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Luke 13:30 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