a thread opens
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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 he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are you poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
from Matthew 5:10
As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
from Luke 6:20
And you now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man takes from you.
from II Corinthians 6:10 · 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.
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
He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen.
from Numbers 16:5
And take to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, so that he may minister to me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
from Psalms 105:26
Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
from Exodus 28:1
And he said to Moses, Come up to the LORD, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship you in the distance.
from Exodus 24:9
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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,
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
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have betrothed you to one husband, so that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
from Colossians 1:22
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
from II Corinthians 11:2
Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit to sincere love of the brothers, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently:
from Ephesians 5:26
And above all things have fervent love among yourselves: for love shall cover the multitude of sins.
from I Peter 1:22
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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.
Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes, reveling with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
from II Peter 2:15
In which they think it strange that you run not with them to the same flood of debauchery, speaking evil of you:
from II Peter 2:13
Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conduct in Christ.
from I Peter 4:4 · a strong link
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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
Justice and judgment are the habitation of your throne: mercy and truth shall go before your face.
from Psalms 85:10 · a strong link
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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
If I sharpen my glittering sword, and my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
from II Thessalonians 1:6
If he turn not, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent his bow, and made it ready.
from Deuteronomy 32:41
And it shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.
from Psalms 7:12
Then shall the man bring his wife to the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley flour; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense on it; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
from Ezekiel 21:23
And she said to Elijah, What have I to do with you, O you man of God? have you come to me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
from Numbers 5:15
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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.
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.
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
However in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject to you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
from Psalms 69:28 · a strong link
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
from Luke 10:20 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 5:10 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