a thread opens
You hide your face, they are troubled: you take away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
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.
You turn man to destruction; and say, Return, you children of men.
from Psalms 104:29
In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return to the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and to dust shall you return.
from Psalms 90:3 · a strong link
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
from Genesis 3:19 · a strong link
I will praise you; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are your works; and that my soul knows right well.
from Genesis 2:7
Which does great things and unfathomable; marvelous things without number:
from Psalms 139:14 · a strong link
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As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
from I Corinthians 8:4
Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
from Mark 12:29
Neither is there any umpire between us, that might lay his hand upon us both.
from Galatians 3:20
If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall pray for him? However they listened not to the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.
from Job 9:33 · a strong link
a thread opens
By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.
from I John 3:16
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.
from Acts 20:28
Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
from I Timothy 5:17
a thread opens
But the anointing which you have received of him remains in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall remain in him.
Being born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, by the word of God, which lives and remains for ever.
from I John 2:27
But the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you.
from I Peter 1:23
The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
from I Peter 1:25
For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, so that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
from Isaiah 40:8
And I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.
from Isaiah 55:10
Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
from Ezekiel 34:26
a thread opens
And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, varieties of tongues.
Obey your leaders, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
from I Corinthians 12:28 · a strong link
Remember your leaders, who have spoken to you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conduct.
from Hebrews 13:17 · a strong link
And you became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit:
from Hebrews 13:7
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith,
from I Thessalonians 1:6 · a strong link
You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
from Galatians 5:22 · a strong link
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I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly to you.
For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conduct in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
from I Chronicles 29:17
For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
from II Corinthians 1:12 · a strong link
But have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
from II Corinthians 2:17 · a strong link
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
from II Corinthians 4:2
a thread opens
Clean out therefore the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
from I Corinthians 5:7
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
from I Peter 1:19
And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
from I Peter 2:22
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Psalms 104:29 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