a thread opens
And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
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 he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; listen to me, you son of Zippor:
from Numbers 23:7
And Ehud came to him; and he was sitting in a cool upper room, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God to you. And he arose out of his seat.
from Numbers 23:18
And I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, says the LORD.
from Judges 3:20
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 let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
from Leviticus 10:3
And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.
from Exodus 19:22
And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
from Exodus 24:5
And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.
from Exodus 18:12
And you shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God.
from Deuteronomy 12:7
And you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within your gates.
from Deuteronomy 27:7
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
For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are in the distance, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
from Romans 9:4
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon your seed, and my blessing upon your offspring:
from Acts 2:39
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
And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes, reveling with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
from II Peter 2:15
In which they think it strange that you run not with them to the same flood of debauchery, speaking evil of you:
from II Peter 2:13
Having your conduct honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
from I Peter 4:4
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
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
from Romans 11:36
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?
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
from Luke 18:7 · a strong link
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things says he who is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens;
from Revelation of John 6:10 · a strong link
I am he that lives, and was dead; and indeed, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Who being the radiance of his glory, and the exact imprint of his nature, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
from Hebrews 1:3
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.
Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
from Luke 14:26
I charge you before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that you observe these things without favoritism, doing nothing by partiality.
from Deuteronomy 33:9
I give you charge in the sight of God, who quickens all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
from I Timothy 5:21 · a strong link
And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
from I Timothy 6:13
For all the promises of God in him are yes, and in him Amen, to the glory of God by us.
from Revelation of John 3:14 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Numbers 23:7 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