a thread opens
But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Told not I you, saying, All that the LORD speaks, that I must do?
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 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.
from Numbers 23:26
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 Numbers 22:18 · a strong link
And Moses said, Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of my own mind.
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.
They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
from Leviticus 10:3
And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
Neither shall you profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,
from Leviticus 18:21
Speak to Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow to me: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 22:32
And you shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 22:2
Again, you have heard that it has been said by them of old time, You shall not forswear yourself, but shall perform to the Lord your oaths:
from Leviticus 19:12
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
You are all fair, my love; there is no spot in you.
from Ephesians 5:27
Look, you are fair, my love; look, you are fair; you have doves’ eyes.
from Song of Solomon 4:7
Look, you are fair, my love; look, you are fair; you have doves’ eyes within your locks: your hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
from Song of Solomon 1:15 · a strong link
As a piece of a pomegranate are your temples within your locks.
from Song of Solomon 4:1
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.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
from Jude 1:11
Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
What? do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?
from I Corinthians 6:13
Do you not know that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a prostitute? God forbid.
from I Corinthians 6:19
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And every creature in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be to him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever.
from Luke 2:14
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.
Therefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name:
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?
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great reward.
from Luke 18:7
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
from Hebrews 10:35 · a strong link
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? for you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
from Hebrews 3:6
He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
from II Corinthians 6:16 · a strong link
And when he had gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
And indeed, one came and said to him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
from Mark 10:17
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.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
from Acts 20:24
For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
from II Timothy 4:6 · a strong link
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
from Philippians 1:23 · a strong link
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conduct and godliness,
from II Corinthians 5:8
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Numbers 23:26 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