a thread opens
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, look, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
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.
For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
from Matthew 2:1
And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
from Luke 2:11 · a strong link
And Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God.
from Luke 1:43
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.
And say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Look, I am against you, O Sidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of you: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
from Leviticus 10:3
I will accept you with your sweet savor, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the pagans.
from Ezekiel 28:22
But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.
from Ezekiel 20:41
For thus says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
from Isaiah 5:16
Your throne is established of old: you are from everlasting.
from Isaiah 57:15
Before the mountains were brought forth, before you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
from Psalms 93:2 · a strong link
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,
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight:
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, so that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
from Colossians 1:22
Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience;
from Ephesians 1:4 · a strong link
And have put on the new self, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
from Colossians 3:12 · a strong link
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
from Colossians 3:10 · a strong link
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.
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why he slew him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.
from I John 3:12
Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate you? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against you?
from Proverbs 29:27
I saw the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not your word.
from Psalms 139:21 · a strong link
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and its fullness.
from Luke 2:14
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moves in it.
from Psalms 96:11
For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
from Psalms 69:34
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?
Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.
from Luke 18:7
And she was a widow of about eighty and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
from I Timothy 5:5 · a strong link
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
from Luke 2:37
Do not rebuke an elder, but plead with him as a father; and the younger men as brothers;
from Acts 14:23
You shall rise up before the gray head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD.
from I Timothy 5:1 · a strong link
The gray head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness.
from Leviticus 19:32
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.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white apparel; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him.
You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
from Malachi 3:17 · a strong link
In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, to the residue of his people,
from Isaiah 62:3
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 2:1 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