a thread opens
No man puts a piece of new cloth to an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up takes from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
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.
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
from Matthew 9:16
As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
from Isaiah 40:11 · a strong link
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
from Ezekiel 34:12
For the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
from Luke 15:4
And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
from Luke 19:10 · a strong link
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 the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
from I Corinthians 8:4
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
from Isaiah 44:6 · a strong link
Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying to me, Do not fear; I am the first and the last:
from Isaiah 41:4 · a strong link
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
Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
from I John 4:9
Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak to you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works.
from John 8:42
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
It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.
from I Peter 1:23
But what says it? The word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
from John 6:63
But the word is very near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, so that you may do it.
from Romans 10:8 · a strong link
You have planted them, yes, they have taken root: they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit: you are near in their mouth, and far from their inmost thoughts.
from Deuteronomy 30:14
Therefore the Lord said, Since this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
from Jeremiah 12:2 · 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.
Which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
from I Corinthians 12:28
But the Helper, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.
from Ephesians 3:5
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
from John 14:26
And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah: for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father in heaven.
from Ephesians 1:17
But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
from Matthew 16:17 · a strong link
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.
They that are of a perverse heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.
from I Chronicles 29:17
א ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
from Proverbs 11:20
That they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
from Psalms 119:1 · a strong link
That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, says the Lord GOD.
from Ezekiel 11:20 · a strong link
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 I saw, and, look, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
from I Corinthians 5:7
For who has despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run back and forth through the whole earth.
from Revelation of John 5:6 · a strong link
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
from Zechariah 4:10
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 9:16 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