a thread opens
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
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 I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do to them, and not forsake them.
from Luke 3:5
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk you in it, when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left.
from Isaiah 42:16 · a strong link
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding.
from Isaiah 30:21 · a strong link
Thus says the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
from Proverbs 3:5 · 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.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
from Acts 20:21
But go and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
from Matthew 4:17
For the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
from Matthew 9:13 · a strong link
But when Jesus heard that, he said to them, They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
from Luke 19:10 · a strong link
And Jesus answering said to them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.
from Matthew 9:12
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
But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
from Acts 2:38 · a strong link
To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
from Acts 8:12 · a strong link
And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people.
from Acts 1:3
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
from Acts 13:31
Then Jesus said to them, Be not afraid: go tell my brothers that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
from Matthew 28:16 · 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 to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
from Acts 17:31
Say among the pagans that the LORD reigns: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
from Psalms 98:9
And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
from Psalms 96:10
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
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
Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
from Revelation of John 1:5 · a strong link
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.
To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? look, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot listen: look, the word of the LORD is to them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
from Acts 7:51
Yet they listened not to me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
from Jeremiah 6:10
Fill you up then the measure of your fathers.
from Jeremiah 7:26
But in the fourth generation they shall come here again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
from Matthew 23:32
And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
from Genesis 15:16 · 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
At my first defense no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
from Acts 9:15
And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
from II Timothy 4:16 · a strong link
Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his apparel, and cast lots.
from Acts 7:60
Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and insolent: but I obtained mercy, because I did it in ignorance in unbelief.
from Luke 23:34 · a strong link
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
from I Timothy 1:13
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Luke 3:5 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