a thread opens
And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
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.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: look, your King comes to you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt the foal of a donkey.
from Matthew 1:21
Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
from Zechariah 9:9 · a strong link
Cry out and shout, you inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of you.
from Zephaniah 3:14
For I, says the LORD, will be to her a wall of fire around, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
from Isaiah 12:6
Violence shall no more be heard in your land, wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.
from Zechariah 2:5
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.
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
from I Corinthians 8:4
Have we not all one father? has not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
from Ephesians 4:6
Doubtless you are our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: you, O LORD, are our father, our redeemer; your name is from everlasting.
from Malachi 2:10
But now, O LORD, you are our father; we are the clay, and you our potter; and we all are the work of your hand.
from Isaiah 63:16
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.
A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
Let brotherly love continue.
from John 13:34 · a strong link
Finally, be all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brothers, be compassionate, be courteous:
from Hebrews 13:1
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.
Being born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, by the word of God, which lives and remains for ever.
from I John 2:27
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
from I Peter 1:23 · a strong link
Whoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
from John 1:13 · a strong link
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.
from I John 3:9 · a strong link
And Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
from I John 5:1
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
from Matthew 16:16
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.
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
from I Corinthians 12:28
But he that prophesies speaks to men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
from Romans 12:6
Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things with which one may edify another.
from I Corinthians 14:3
If it is possible, as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men.
from Romans 14:19
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith,
from Romans 12:18
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.
They that are of a perverse heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.
from I Chronicles 29:17
א ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
from Proverbs 11:20
And the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and shuns evil?
from Psalms 119:1
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the perverse mouth, do I hate.
from Job 1:8
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:
The place of the Scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb mute before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
from I Corinthians 5:7
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is mute, so he opens not his mouth.
from Acts 8:32 · a strong link
But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered him, I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you be the Christ, the Son of God.
from Isaiah 53:7 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 1:21 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