a thread opens
That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
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.
They have not known nor understood: for he has shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
from Mark 4:12 · a strong link
A brutish man knows not; neither does a fool understand this.
from Isaiah 44:18
So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before you.
from Psalms 92:6 · a strong link
I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
from Psalms 73:22
And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life;
from Ecclesiastes 3:18
a thread opens
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
from I Corinthians 8:4
And said, O LORD God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? and rule not you over all the kingdoms of the pagans? and in your hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand you?
from Deuteronomy 4:39
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.
from II Chronicles 20:6 · a strong link
And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, so that he should repent.
from I Chronicles 29:11
a thread opens
By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a fragrant offering.
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
By which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
from Ephesians 5:2
Who needs not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
from Hebrews 10:10 · a strong link
a thread opens
But the anointing which you have received of him remains in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall remain in him.
But the Helper, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.
from I John 2:27 · a strong link
God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will?
from John 14:26
Then Jesus said to him, Except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.
from Hebrews 2:4
For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
from John 4:48 · a strong link
The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven.
from I Corinthians 1:22
And as they spoke to the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,
from Matthew 16:1
a thread opens
And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, varieties of tongues.
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
from I Corinthians 12:28 · a strong link
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
from Ephesians 4:11
And said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it befitted Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
from Romans 10:14
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
from Luke 24:46
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 Luke 24:26
a thread opens
I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly to you.
And you, Solomon my son, know you the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off for ever.
from I Chronicles 29:17 · a strong link
I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not to the seed of Jacob, Seek me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
from I Chronicles 28:9 · a strong link
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 Isaiah 45:19
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 II Chronicles 15:2
a thread opens
Clean out therefore the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said to him, Where will you that we go and prepare that you may eat the Passover?
from I Corinthians 5:7
And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
from Mark 14:12
Then they killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.
from Exodus 12:6
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Mark 4:12 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