a thread opens
And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
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.
How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.
from Luke 4:5
Then Saul fell immediately all along on the earth, and was greatly afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.
from Psalms 73:19
And when Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.
from I Samuel 28:20
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.
They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
from Leviticus 10:3
And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
Yes, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which you made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
from Leviticus 18:21
But you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which you made to yourselves.
from Acts 7:43
Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
from Amos 5:26
And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while you be with him; and if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
from I Kings 11:33
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,
And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
from Jude 1:24
The LORD shall preserve you from all evil: he shall preserve your soul.
from II Timothy 4:18 · a strong link
The LORD redeems the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.
from Psalms 121:7
Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving devotion and tender mercies;
from Psalms 34:22
For you have delivered my soul from death: will you not deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?
from Psalms 103:4
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.
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why he slew him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks.
from I John 3:12 · a strong link
And in process of time it happened, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
from Hebrews 11:4 · a strong link
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer to the LORD, them have I given you.
from Genesis 4:3
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
from Luke 2:14
And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.
from Isaiah 9:6
I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
from John 1:16
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?
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
from Luke 18:7
Fear not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaks vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:
from Isaiah 41:10 · a strong link
Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:
from Psalms 144:11
For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
from II Samuel 17:1
You love all devouring words, O you deceitful tongue.
from Psalms 109:2
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.
He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For the love of Christ compels us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
from Matthew 10:37
For none of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself.
from II Corinthians 5:14
Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
from Romans 14:7
And that he died for all, so that they which live should no longer live to themselves, but to him which died for them, and rose again.
from I Thessalonians 5:10
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Luke 4:5 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