a thread opens
Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
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 all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sits upon his throne, even to the firstborn of the maidservant behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.
from Matthew 24:41
Who struck the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.
from Exodus 11:5
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
from Psalms 135:8
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.
Speak to Aaron, saying, Whoever he be of your seed in their generations that has any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he has chosen will he cause to come near to him.
from Leviticus 21:17
But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me, and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord GOD:
from Numbers 16:5
And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma: all the fat is the LORD’s.
from Ezekiel 44:15
Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled flesh of you, but raw.
from Leviticus 3:16
And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the LORD; the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat upon the entrails,
from I Samuel 2:15
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,
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
from Jude 1:24
Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
from Hebrews 13:20 · a strong link
Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.
from Romans 15:33
And indeed, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless you.
The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.
from Ruth 2:4
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.
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
from Jude 1:11
And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred thirty-three years.
from Numbers 16:1
And these are they that were numbered of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of Merari, the family of the Merarites.
from Exodus 6:18
The sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
from Numbers 26:57
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
from Colossians 1:20
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations.
from Psalms 85:10
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
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
from Hebrews 10:35 · a strong link
And you shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved.
from Hebrews 3:6
I have given them your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
from Matthew 10:22 · a strong link
If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.
from John 17:14 · a strong link
Look, what kind of love the Father has bestowed upon us, so that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not.
from John 15:18
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.
He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
from John 12:25
And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
from Luke 9:23
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often.
from I Corinthians 15:30
Of the Jews five times received I forty lashes minus one.
from II Corinthians 11:23
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 24:41 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