a thread opens
But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
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, brothers, you have been called to freedom; only do not use freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but by love serve one another.
from Matthew 23:11
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
from Galatians 5:13
Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin.
from II Peter 2:19 · a strong link
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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 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.
from Leviticus 10:3
What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
from Exodus 14:4 · a strong link
The LORD is patience, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation.
from Romans 9:22
Who is a God like you, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retains not his anger for ever, because he delights in mercy.
from Numbers 14:18
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, patience, and abundant in goodness and truth,
from Micah 7:18
For your mercy is great above the heavens: and your truth reaches to the clouds.
from Exodus 34:6 · a strong link
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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,
And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
from Jude 1:24
You shall guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
from II Timothy 4:18
And now, O Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world was.
from Psalms 73:24
No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
from John 17:5
All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knows who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
from John 1:18 · a strong link
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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.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
from Jude 1:11
Because they served them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, says the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity.
And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all its handiwork.
from Ezekiel 44:12
And I took to me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
from II Kings 16:10
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Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
from Luke 2:14
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you are called in one body; and be thankful.
from Romans 5:1
Be therefore imitators of God, as dear children;
from Colossians 3:15
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And shall not God give justice to his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to repay with affliction those who afflict you;
from Luke 18:7
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
from II Thessalonians 1:6
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things says he who is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens;
from Revelation of John 6:10 · a strong link
And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
from Revelation of John 3:7 · a strong link
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have first place.
from Revelation of John 3:14 · a strong link
For he must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet.
from Colossians 1:18
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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.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Because your loving devotion is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
from Psalms 73:25 · a strong link
Hear me, O LORD; for your loving devotion is good: turn to me according to the multitude of your tender mercies.
from Psalms 63:3 · a strong link
To the director of music, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving devotion: according to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
from Psalms 69:16
Repent you therefore, and be converted, so that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
from Psalms 51:1 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 23:11 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