a thread opens
And it happened in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been formerly sad in his presence.
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.
Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
from Nehemiah 2:1 · a strong link
And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers beyond the river, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,
from Ezra 7:1
This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
from Ezra 7:21
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
Blessed is the man whom you choose, and cause to approach to you, so that he may dwell in your courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, even of your holy temple.
from Leviticus 21:17
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips:
from Psalms 65:4
My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.
from Psalms 63:5
Your testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
from Psalms 104:34 · a strong link
Unless your law had been my delights, I should then have perished in my affliction.
from Psalms 119:111
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,
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
from Ephesians 5:27
To the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
from II Peter 3:14 · a strong link
So that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
from I Thessalonians 3:13
Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
from I Corinthians 1:7
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.
The look on their faces bears witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.
from Jude 1:11
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
from Isaiah 3:9 · a strong link
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
from Genesis 13:13
And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.
from Genesis 18:20
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
from Luke 2:14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
from Isaiah 9:6 · a strong link
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 John 1:1 · a strong link
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?
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
from Luke 18:7
Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at my hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonor that magnify themselves against me.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish.
from Psalms 35:26
They that hate you shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nothing.
from Psalms 132:18 · a strong link
Let my adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a robe.
from Job 8:22 · a strong link
Let all my enemies be ashamed and deeply troubled: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.
from Psalms 109:29
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 father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For the love of Christ compels us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
from Matthew 10:37
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown toward his name, in that you have served the saints, and do minister.
from II Corinthians 5:14
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
from Hebrews 6:10
If any man speak, let him speak as the utterances of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God gives: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
from Colossians 3:17 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Nehemiah 2:1 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