a thread opens
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
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 knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
from Luke 2:7
And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
from Matthew 1:25
And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
from Matthew 1:21
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
I will accept you with your sweet savor, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the pagans.
from Ezekiel 28:22
Thus says the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the pagans, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.
from Ezekiel 20:41 · a strong link
But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, says the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell in it.
from Ezekiel 28:25
If you will still remain in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done to you.
from Jeremiah 27:11
And he prayed to the LORD, and said, please, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before to Tarshish: for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repent you of the evil.
from Jeremiah 42:10
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,
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
from Jude 1:24
All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.
from John 10:29
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
from John 6:37
To me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, so that I should preach among the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ;
from Ephesians 2:4
And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
from Ephesians 3:8
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
And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.
from Numbers 31:8 · a strong link
And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, which were chiefs of Sihon, dwelling in the country.
from Numbers 25:15
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and its fullness.
from Luke 2:14
Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
from Psalms 96:11
Sing, O you heavens; for the LORD has done it: shout, you lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it: for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
from Isaiah 49:13 · a strong link
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
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and to that end with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
from Psalms 86:3
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
from Ephesians 6:18
And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood in the distance, seeing these things.
from Acts 1:14
And many women were there seeing in the distance, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him:
from Luke 23:49
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.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Because your loving devotion is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
from Psalms 73:25 · a strong link
I beg you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
from Psalms 63:3
By a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
from Romans 12:1
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil;
from Hebrews 10:20
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Luke 2:7 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