a thread opens
And bring here the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
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 this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make to all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
from Luke 15:23
And I say to you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
from Isaiah 25:6
So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
from Matthew 8:11
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
from Isaiah 59:19
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
from Acts 20:21
Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, look, we turn to the Gentiles.
from Luke 24:47
Therefore say I to you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth its fruits.
from Acts 13:46
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
from Matthew 21:43
But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
from I Peter 2:9
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
from Acts 13:38
And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
from II Corinthians 5:18
And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
from I John 2:2 · a strong link
But when the Helper has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, he shall testify of me:
from I John 4:14
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
from John 15:26
There is a river, the streams of which shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
from Revelation of John 22:1 · 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.
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 Acts 17:31
And I saw heaven opened, and look, a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war.
from Psalms 96:13 · a strong link
After this I looked, and look, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up here, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.
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
Look, O LORD, and consider to whom you have done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
from Luke 13:1
I prayed therefore to the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, destroy not your people and your inheritance, which you have redeemed through your greatness, which you have brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
from Lamentations 2:20
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.
Circumcise therefore your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.
from Acts 7:51 · a strong link
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
from Deuteronomy 10:16
Not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
from Romans 2:28
God is not a man, so that he should lie; neither the son of man, so that he should repent: has he said, and shall he not do it? or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
from Romans 9:6
I will not execute the fierceness of my anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of you: and I will not enter into the city.
from Numbers 23:19 · a strong link
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
And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
from Ephesians 3:7
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
from I Timothy 1:14
As newborn infants, desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby:
from I Peter 1:3
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
from I Peter 2:2 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Luke 15:23 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