a thread opens
When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.
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.
A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, you are my God; early will I seek you: my soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
from Matthew 12:43
I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
from Psalms 63:1
Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he has known my name.
from Proverbs 8:17 · 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.
No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
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 21:21
And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
Command the children of Israel, and say to them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a pleasing aroma to me, shall you observe to offer to me in their due season.
from Leviticus 3:11
And the LORD smelled a pleasing aroma; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again strike any more everything living, as I have done.
from Numbers 28:2
And indeed, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die.
from Genesis 8:21
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,
But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.
from Jude 1:24
My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations;
from I Peter 4:13 · a strong link
The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished:
from James 1:2
There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.
from II Peter 2:9 · a strong link
That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong comfort, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
from I Corinthians 10:13
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 the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:
from Jude 1:11
These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.
from Numbers 26:9 · a strong link
And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.
from Numbers 1:16
And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
from Numbers 1:4
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
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
from John 17:4
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 20:24
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?
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great reward.
from Luke 18:7
For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.
from Hebrews 10:35 · a strong link
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
from Galatians 6:8
For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same letter has made you sorry, though it were but for a while.
from Psalms 126:5
But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
from II Corinthians 7:8
How shall I give you up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver you, Israel? how shall I make you as Admah? how shall I set you as Zeboim? my heart is turned within me, my compassions are kindled together.
from Lamentations 3:32
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.
Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as rubbish, so that I may win Christ,
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
from Philippians 3:8
That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, so that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that you have sent me.
from Ephesians 4:13
I and my Father are one.
from John 17:21
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
from John 10:30 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 12:43 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