a thread opens
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up, and choked 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.
And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
from Matthew 13:7
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
from Mark 4:18
And he said to them, Take heed, and beware of greed: for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.
from Mark 4:7
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
from Luke 12:15 · a strong link
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance to life.
from Acts 20:21
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich to all that call upon him.
from Acts 11:18 · a strong link
Or despise you the riches of his goodness and forbearance and patience; not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
from Romans 10:12
And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious to you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
from Romans 2:4 · a strong link
O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him.
from Isaiah 30:18
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 that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
from Acts 13:38 · a strong link
Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers:
from Luke 24:47
You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, And in your seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
from Romans 15:8
And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.
from Acts 3:25 · a strong link
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed to them also:
from Genesis 12:3
What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
from Romans 4:11
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.
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
from Acts 17:31
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 II Peter 3:7
The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.
from II Peter 2:9 · a strong link
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,
And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
I give you charge in the sight of God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
from Matthew 27:2
For as the Father raises up the dead, and gives them life; even so the Son gives life to whom he will.
from I Timothy 6:13
And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
from John 5:21
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.
Thus says the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger among the children of Israel.
from Acts 7:51
Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness to the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and boil in it: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
from Ezekiel 44:9
He that regards the day, regards it to the Lord; and he that regards not the day, to the Lord he does not regard it. He that eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he that eats not, to the Lord he eats not, and gives God thanks.
from Zechariah 14:21 · a strong link
And he took the seven loaves and the fish, and gave thanks, and broke them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
from Romans 14:6
And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.
from Matthew 15:36
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
To which I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
from Romans 11:13
Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power.
from I Timothy 2:7
By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
from Ephesians 3:7
That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, so that he might go to his own place.
from Romans 1:5
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 13:7 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