a thread opens
And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, and am no more worthy to be called your son.
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.
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you,
from Luke 15:21
And the tax collector, standing in the distance, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but struck upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
from Luke 15:18
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brothers, what shall we do?
from Luke 18:13 · a strong link
And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
from Acts 2:37 · a strong link
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent:
from Acts 20:21
For as I passed by, and saw your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore you in ignorance worship, him declare I to you.
from Acts 17:30
And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
from Acts 17:23
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;
from I John 5:20
From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but to all them also that love his appearing.
from Titus 2:13 · a strong link
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
Then Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
from Acts 13:38
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit;
from Acts 2:38 · a strong link
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
from Titus 3:5
You will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.
from Luke 1:72
And the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: the land on which you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed;
from Micah 7:20
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you, and to your seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father;
from Genesis 28:13
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.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
from Acts 17:31
And has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
from Matthew 25:31
For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son:
from John 5:27
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
I give you charge in the sight of God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
from Matthew 27:2
For as the Father raises up the dead, and gives them life; even so the Son gives life to whom he will.
from I Timothy 6:13
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also give life to your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you.
from John 5:21
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.
And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
from Acts 7:51
To a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of you; for you are a stiff-necked people: lest I consume you in the way.
from Psalms 78:8
And he said to him, If your presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
from Exodus 33:3
There be many that say, Who will show us any good? LORD, lift up the light of your countenance upon us.
from Exodus 33:15
Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved.
from Psalms 4:6
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
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,
from I Timothy 2:7
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
from Romans 9:1
Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not yet to Corinth.
from Romans 1:9
I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which previously have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:
from II Corinthians 1:23
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Luke 15:21 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