a thread opens
And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.
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 Micaiah said, As the LORD lives, even what my God says, that will I speak.
from Numbers 22:18 · a strong link
If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own mind; but what the LORD says, that will I speak?
from II Chronicles 18:13
And God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, If the men come to call you, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say to you, that shall you do.
from Numbers 24:13
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
Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the LORD has not done all this.
from Exodus 14:8
Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.
from Deuteronomy 32:27
And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, please, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
from Psalms 140:8
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,
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
from Jude 1:24
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and says of him, Look, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Who are Israelites; to whom pertains the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
from John 1:47
You are the children of the LORD your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
from Romans 9:4
You shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shall you mar the corners of your beard.
from Deuteronomy 14:1
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.
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
Look, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
from II Peter 2:15
And Israel remained in Acacia, and the people began to commit prostitution with the daughters of Moab.
from Numbers 31:16 · a strong link
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Acacia two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into a prostitute’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
from Numbers 25:1 · a strong link
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Saying, Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
The stone which the builders refused has become the head stone of the corner.
from Luke 19:38
And he saw them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the cornerstone?
from Psalms 118:22 · 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
And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious to you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
from II Peter 3:9 · a strong link
Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
from Isaiah 30:18
A Song of Ascents. They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but remains for ever.
from Jeremiah 17:7 · a strong link
And I looked, and, look, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred forty-four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
from Psalms 125:1
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
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.
Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as rubbish, so that I may win Christ,
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For I have given to them the words which you gave me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from you, and they have believed that you did send me.
from Philippians 3:8
That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, so that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that you have sent me.
from John 17:8
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you. Holy Father, keep through your own name those whom you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are.
from John 17:21 · a strong link
For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
from John 17:11
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Numbers 22:18 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