a thread opens
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
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.
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.
from Luke 16:13
He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
from John 12:25 · a strong link
Save that the Holy Spirit witnesses in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions remain me.
from Matthew 16:25
And when he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus says the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owns this belt, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
from Acts 20:23
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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.
Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, and he that formed you from the womb, I am the LORD that makes all things; that stretches forth the heavens alone; that spreads abroad the earth by myself;
from I Corinthians 8:4
And forget the LORD your maker, that has stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
from Isaiah 44:24
It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in:
from Isaiah 51:13
Of old have you laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of your hands.
from Isaiah 40:22
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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.
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a fragrant offering.
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
from Ephesians 5:2
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
from Hebrews 9:14 · a strong link
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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.
Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it remain in the vine; no more can you, except you remain in me.
from I John 2:27
Whoever transgresses, and does not remain in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He that remains in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son.
from John 15:4 · a strong link
Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
from II John 1:9
He that loves me not keeps not my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
from John 7:16 · a strong link
Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
from John 14:24
For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
from John 8:42
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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
To whom coming, as to a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
from Ephesians 2:20 · a strong link
To you therefore which believe he is precious: but to them which are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the cornerstone,
from I Peter 2:4 · a strong link
And have you not read this Scripture; The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone:
from I Peter 2:7
The stone which the builders refused has become the head stone of the corner.
from Mark 12:10
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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.
And you, Solomon my son, know you the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off for ever.
from I Chronicles 29:17 · a strong link
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent:
from I Chronicles 28:9
And saying, Repent you: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
from Acts 17:30
And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
from Matthew 3:2 · a strong link
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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:
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.
from I Corinthians 5:7
Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
from Exodus 13:6
Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whoever eats that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
from Exodus 12:15
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Luke 16:13 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