a thread opens
And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
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.
But while he thought on these things, look, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, you son of David, do not fear to take to you Mary your wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
from Matthew 2:12
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.
from Matthew 1:20
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
from Matthew 1:18
Look, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
from Job 14:4
What is man, so that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, so that he should be righteous?
from Psalms 51:5
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.
Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, and he that formed you from the womb, I am the LORD that makes all things; that stretches forth the heavens alone; that spreads abroad the earth by myself;
from I Corinthians 8:4
He stretches out the north over the empty place, and hangs the earth upon nothing.
from Isaiah 44:24
For he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
from Job 26:7
Who laid the foundations of the earth, so that it should not be removed for ever.
from Psalms 24:2
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.
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
The thief comes not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
from I John 4:9
This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bore what was put in it.
from John 10:10
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
For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart.
from I Peter 1:23 · a strong link
So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
from Hebrews 4:12 · a strong link
For the earth which drinks in the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth herbs useful for them by whom it is dressed, receives blessing from God:
from Isaiah 55:11
For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, so that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
from Hebrews 6:7
Then shall he give the rain of your seed, that you shall sow the ground also; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall your cattle feed in large pastures.
from Isaiah 55:10 · a strong link
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.
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone;
from I Corinthians 12:28
And he saw them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the cornerstone?
from Ephesians 2:20
And when he had looked around on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
from Luke 20:17
Then he said to the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.
from Mark 3:5
And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
from Matthew 12:13
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.
And you, Solomon my son, know you the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off for ever.
from I Chronicles 29:17 · a strong link
For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man has, and not according to that he has not.
from I Chronicles 28:9
And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
from II Corinthians 8:12
And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.
from Luke 21:1
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:
And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said to him, Where will you that we go and prepare that you may eat the Passover?
from I Corinthians 5:7
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at even.
from Mark 14:12
Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
from Exodus 12:18
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 2:12 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