a thread opens
And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said to him, Son, why have you thus dealt with us? look, your father and I have sought you sorrowing.
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.
While he yet talked to the people, look, his mother and his brothers stood without, desiring to speak with him.
from Luke 2:48
But when his brothers had gone up, then he went also up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
from Matthew 12:46
Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.
from John 7:10
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.
And say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Look, I am against you, O Sidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of you: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
from Leviticus 10:3
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.
from Ezekiel 28:22
And in very deed for this cause have I raised you up, to show in you my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
from Exodus 14:4
Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yes, let them be put to shame, and perish:
from Exodus 9:16
Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
from Psalms 83:17 · a strong link
Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
from Psalms 35:4
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,
Now to him that is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
Let a little water, please, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
from Ephesians 3:20
And he said, Look now, my lords, turn in, please, into your servant’s house, and stay all night, and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, No; but we will remain in the street all night.
from Genesis 18:4 · a strong link
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
from Genesis 19:2
But the stranger that dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
from Hebrews 13:2
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.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
from Jude 1:11
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
from Revelation of John 2:14 · a strong link
And now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
from Joshua 24:9
O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Acacia to Gilgal; that you may know the righteousness of the LORD.
from Judges 11:25
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Saying, Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
from Luke 19:38
And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were deeply displeased,
from Matthew 21:9
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?
A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the director of music upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you:
from Luke 18:7 · a strong link
Be merciful to me, O Lord: for I cry to you daily.
from Psalms 88:1
To the director of music on Neginoth, A Psalm of David. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: you have enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.
from Psalms 86:3
They confronted me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.
from Psalms 4:1
To me belongs vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
from Psalms 18:18
The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
from Deuteronomy 32:35
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.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith:
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you are also called, and have professed a good profession before many witnesses.
from II Timothy 4:7 · a strong link
I give you charge in the sight of God, who quickens all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
from I Timothy 6:12
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
from I Timothy 6:13
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Luke 2:48 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