a thread opens
For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I look on him: look, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
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 Haman said to king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.
from Numbers 23:9
And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
from Esther 3:8 · a strong link
But we desire to hear of you what you think: for as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against.
from Acts 16:20
And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother, Look, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
from Acts 28:22
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
But showed first to them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, so that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.
from Acts 20:21
Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance:
from Acts 26:20 · a strong link
(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
from Matthew 3:8 · a strong link
And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brothers, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
from Ephesians 5:9
I have not written to you because you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
from Romans 15:14
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
from Acts 13:38
Namely, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them; and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
from II Corinthians 5:18
Look, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
from II Corinthians 5:19
Teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you: and, look, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen.
from Matthew 1:23
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
from Matthew 28:20
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Helper, that he may remain with you for ever;
from John 14:18
a thread opens
Because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
from Acts 17:31
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a roar, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works in it shall be burned up.
from II Peter 3:7 · a strong link
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
from II Peter 3:10 · a strong link
a thread opens
For truly against your holy child Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
from Acts 4:27 · a strong link
And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.
from Matthew 27:2 · a strong link
From that time forth began Jesus to show to his disciples, how that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
from Matthew 20:19 · a strong link
Even as the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
from Matthew 16:21 · a strong link
a thread opens
You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you.
For circumcision truly profits, if you keep the law: but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision.
from Acts 7:51
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
from Romans 2:25
Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’s anger come upon you.
from Jeremiah 4:4
The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
from Zephaniah 2:2
Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passes away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
from Psalms 1:4
a thread opens
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
But the Lord said to him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
from Acts 22:21 · a strong link
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
from Acts 9:15 · a strong link
Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.
from Acts 13:2
Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia,
from Acts 8:29
For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed to Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.
from Acts 16:6
I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from there into Macedonia.
from II Timothy 4:10
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Numbers 23:9 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