a thread opens
No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and plunder his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will plunder his house.
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.
Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
from Mark 3:27
Have not I commanded you? Be strong and courageous; be not afraid, neither be dismayed: for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
from Ephesians 6:10 · a strong link
When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, and chariots, and a people more than you, be not afraid of them: for the LORD your God is with you, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
from Joshua 1:9 · a strong link
There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the days of your life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you: I will not fail you, nor forsake you.
from Deuteronomy 20:1
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love to all the saints,
from Acts 20:21
We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
from Ephesians 1:15
I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day;
from Colossians 1:3
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
from II Timothy 1:3 · a strong link
And it happened in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
from Romans 1:8
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
from Acts 13:38
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
from II Corinthians 5:18
Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
from Romans 5:10
Look, the days come, says the LORD, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
from Daniel 9:24 · a strong link
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
from Jeremiah 23:5 · a strong link
As many were astonished at you; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
from Isaiah 53:2 · 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.
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
from Acts 17:31
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
from Romans 2:16 · a strong link
Speak not evil one of another, brothers. He that speaks evil of his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law, and judges the law: but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.
from I Corinthians 4:5
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,
By stretching forth your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of your holy child Jesus.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
from Acts 4:30
For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man has, and not according to that he has not.
from Acts 3:6
And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
from II Corinthians 8:12
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 our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
from Acts 7:51
We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
from Acts 7:39
And the children of Israel said to them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of food, and when we did eat bread to the full; for you have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
from Numbers 11:5 · a strong link
And all the children of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said to them, If only that we had died in the land of Egypt! or if only we had died in this wilderness!
from Exodus 16:3
But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the LORD.
from Numbers 14:2
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
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office:
from Acts 9:15
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
from Romans 11:13
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
from Acts 13:2 · a strong link
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God,
from Galatians 1:15
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;
from Romans 1:1
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Mark 3:27 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