a thread opens
And it happened, that when all our enemies heard of it, and all the pagans that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was worked of our God.
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.
When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there had come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
from Nehemiah 6:16
Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
from Nehemiah 2:10
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why he slew him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
from Proverbs 27:4
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.
And say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Look, I am against you, O Sidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of you: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
from Leviticus 10:3
And I, look, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
from Ezekiel 28:22
And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with a high hand.
from Exodus 14:17
And it shall be for a token upon your hand, and for bands between your eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.
from Exodus 14:8
And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What is this? that you shall say to him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:
from Exodus 13:16
And when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God has commanded you?
from Exodus 13:14
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,
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
from Jude 1:24
You have heard how I said to you, I go away, and come again to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
from John 10:29 · a strong link
A little while, and you shall not see me: and again, a little while, and you shall see me, because I go to the Father.
from John 14:28
Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he says to us, A little while, and you shall not see me: and again, a little while, and you shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?
from John 16:16
But now I am going away to him that sent me; and none of you asks me, Where are you going?
from John 16:17
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
Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons.
from Numbers 16:1
But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron the priest numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.
from Numbers 27:3 · a strong link
And the space in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we had come over the brook Zered, was thirty-eight years; until all the generation of the warriors were wasted out from among the host, as the LORD swore to them.
from Numbers 26:64 · a strong link
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
from Luke 1:79
Then spoke Jesus again to them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
from John 9:5 · 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?
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some men count slowness; but is patience toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
from Luke 18:7
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the patience of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
from II Peter 3:9
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
from I Peter 3:20 · a strong link
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
from Genesis 6:5 · a strong link
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does he tempt any man:
from Matthew 15:19
You will say then to me, Why does he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will?
from James 1:13
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
Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
from John 12:25 · a strong link
He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.
from Luke 17:33 · a strong link
Fear none of those things which you shall suffer: look, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, so that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days: be faithful to death, and I will give you a crown of life.
from Matthew 10:39
And the beast which I saw was like to a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Nehemiah 6:16 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