a thread opens
Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers’ house, all that are able to go to war in 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.
Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their heads;
from Numbers 26:2
When you take a census of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul to the LORD, when you number them; that there be no plague among them, when you number them.
from Numbers 1:2
None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
from Exodus 30:12
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.
Speak to Aaron, saying, Whoever he be of your seed in their generations that has any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
Blessed is the man whom you choose, and cause to approach to you, so that he may dwell in your courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, even of your holy temple.
from Leviticus 21:17
Remember me, O LORD, with the favor that you bear to your people: O visit me with your salvation;
from Psalms 65:4
Look you upon me, and be merciful to me, as you are accustomed to do to those that love your name.
from Psalms 106:4 · a strong link
Turn you to me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.
from Psalms 119:132
O turn to me, and have mercy upon me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant.
from Psalms 25:16
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 the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
from Jude 1:24
The LORD shall preserve you from all evil: he shall preserve your soul.
from II Timothy 4:18 · a strong link
Because you have made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, your habitation;
from Psalms 121:7 · a strong link
A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
from Psalms 91:9 · a strong link
Be my strong habitation, to which I may continually resort: you have given commandment to save me; for you are my rock and my fortress.
from Psalms 90:1
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
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 II Peter 2:15 · a strong link
And shall say, Build up, build up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people.
Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.
from Isaiah 57:14 · a strong link
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moves in it.
from Luke 2:14
Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
from Psalms 69:34 · a strong link
For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
from Isaiah 49:13
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
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, since you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
from Hebrews 10:35
Holding out the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.
from I Corinthians 15:58 · a strong link
For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of boasting? Are not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
from Philippians 2:16
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
from I Thessalonians 2:19
Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.
from Matthew 16:27
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 father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For the love of Christ compels us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
from Matthew 10:37
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown toward his name, in that you have served the saints, and do minister.
from II Corinthians 5:14
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers. He that loves not his brother remains in death.
from Hebrews 6:10
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
from I John 3:14 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Numbers 26:2 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