a thread opens
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in various places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
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 there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given to him a great sword.
from Mark 13:8
I saw by night, and look, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees in the valley; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, says the LORD of hosts: strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn my hand upon the little ones.
from Zechariah 1:8
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.
I was mute, I opened not my mouth; because you did it.
from Leviticus 10:3
And the king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD has said to him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Why have you done so?
from Psalms 39:9
And David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be adversaries to me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?
from II Samuel 16:10 · a strong link
And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.
from II Samuel 19:22 · a strong link
And Moses said to the people, Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more for ever.
from I Samuel 11:13 · a strong link
I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior.
from Exodus 14:13
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,
Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight:
from II Corinthians 4:14
Who gave himself for us, so that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works.
from Colossians 1:22
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
from Titus 2:14
Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not know your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?
from Galatians 2:20 · a strong link
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.
And in process of time it happened, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
from Jude 1:11
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
The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk.
from Numbers 18:12
You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe fruits, and of your liquors: the firstborn of your sons shall you give to me.
from Exodus 23:19
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do.
from Luke 2:14
If you keep my commandments, you shall remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love.
from John 17:4
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
from John 15:10
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?
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some men count slowness; but is patience toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
from Luke 18:7
But you, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, patience, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
from II Peter 3:9 · a strong link
The LORD is patience, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation.
from Psalms 86:15
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 Numbers 14:18 · a strong link
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
from Jonah 4:2
Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
from I Kings 19:4
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.
Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
from Luke 14:26
And Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD has looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.
from Deuteronomy 33:9
And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
from Genesis 29:32 · a strong link
Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:
from Exodus 4:31
Having your conduct honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
from Exodus 3:16
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Mark 13:8 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