a thread opens
The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with torn flesh.
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.
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a monster, he has filled his belly with my delicacies, he has cast me out.
from Nahum 2:12
Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria has devoured him; and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.
from Jeremiah 51:34 · a strong link
The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
from Jeremiah 50:17 · a strong link
Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yes, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.
from Jeremiah 2:15
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
from Acts 20:21
Then Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
from Mark 6:12
Then drew near to him all the tax collectors and sinners to hear him.
from Acts 2:38
And there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
from Luke 15:1
But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.
from Luke 13:30
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
from Acts 13:38
And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
from II Corinthians 5:18
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
from I John 2:2 · a strong link
For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit:
from I John 4:10
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin to salvation.
from I Peter 3:18 · a strong link
From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but to all them also that love his appearing.
from Hebrews 9:28
a thread opens
Because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
from Acts 17:31
But to the Son he said, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.
from Matthew 25:31
For he must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet.
from Hebrews 1:8
a thread opens
For truly against your holy child Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
I give you charge in the sight of God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
from Matthew 27:2
And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Are you the King of the Jews? And Jesus said to him, You say.
from I Timothy 6:13 · a strong link
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.
from Matthew 27:11
a thread opens
You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you.
For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
from Acts 7:51
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead in which we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
from Philippians 3:3
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
from Romans 7:6 · a strong link
Whereby are given to us exceedingly great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world through lust.
from Romans 6:4
For when they speak loud boasts of folly, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much sensuality, those that were barely escaped from them who live in error.
from II Peter 1:4
a thread opens
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
But the Lord said to him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
from Acts 22:21 · a strong link
At my first defense no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
from Acts 9:15
And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
from II Timothy 4:16 · a strong link
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
from Acts 7:60
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
from I Corinthians 15:20 · a strong link
Jesus answered them, Though I bear witness of myself, yet my record is true: for I know where I came from, and where I go; but you cannot tell where I come from, and where I go.
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Nahum 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