a thread opens
The avenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meets him, he shall slay him.
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.
That the slayer that kills any person unintentionally may flee there: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
from Numbers 35:19
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.
I was mute, I opened not my mouth; because you did it.
from Leviticus 10:3
And the king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD has said to him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Why have you done so?
from Psalms 39:9
And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the LORD shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.
from II Samuel 16:10
I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD.
from II Samuel 3:39
All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
from Psalms 101:8 · a strong link
The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the LORD.
from Psalms 75:10
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,
Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight:
from II Corinthians 4:14
Therefore, my brothers, you also have become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, so that we should bring forth fruit to God.
from Colossians 1:22
Canceling the record of debt that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
from Romans 7:4
Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live to righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed.
from Colossians 2:14
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.
And the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:
from Jude 1:11
These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.
from Numbers 26:9 · a strong link
And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.
from Numbers 1:16
And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
from Numbers 1:4
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
And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
from Luke 19:38
And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were deeply displeased,
from Matthew 21:9
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?
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
from Luke 18:7
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
from Romans 8:31 · a strong link
And indeed, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight you not against the LORD God of your fathers; for you shall not prosper.
from Psalms 46:7 · a strong link
And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.
from II Chronicles 13:12
And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.
from Numbers 10:8
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 his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
And every one that has forsaken houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life.
from John 12:25
And indeed, one came and said to him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
from Matthew 19:29 · a strong link
(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show to you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us;)
from Matthew 19:16
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
from I John 1:2
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Numbers 35:19 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