a thread opens
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way: When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
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.
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
from Matthew 1:18
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
from Job 14:4 · a strong link
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
from John 3:6 · a strong link
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
Neither shall you profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,
from Leviticus 18:21
Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.
from Leviticus 22:32
In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:
from Leviticus 21:15
Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
from Nehemiah 13:23
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,
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
from Jude 1:24
As for you also, by the blood of your covenant I have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit in which is no water.
from Hebrews 13:20 · a strong link
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
from Zechariah 9:11
He first finds his own brother Simon, and says to him, We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
from Isaiah 61:1 · a strong link
The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and says to the men,
from John 1:41
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.
Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
And said, O full of all deceit and all mischief, you child of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
from II Peter 2:15
You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and remained not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
from Acts 13:10
Whoever hates his brother is a murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.
from John 8:44
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
from Luke 2:14
The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
from Romans 5:1
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
from Acts 10:36
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?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies.
from Luke 18:7
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now has come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brothers is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
from Romans 8:33 · a strong link
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that lives for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
from Daniel 2:44 · a strong link
Remembering my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
from Daniel 4:34
He has built against me, and surrounded me with gall and toil.
from Lamentations 3:19
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
Look upon my affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.
from Genesis 29:32
It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction, and that the LORD will repay me good for his cursing this day.
from Psalms 25:18
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
from II Samuel 16:12
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 1:18 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