a thread opens
When they were but a few men in number; yes, very few, and strangers in it.
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 you shall speak and say before the LORD your God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
from Psalms 105:12
And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were seventy.
from Deuteronomy 26:5 · a strong link
Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons; and now the LORD your God has made you as the stars of heaven for multitude.
from Genesis 46:27
Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, sixty and fifteen souls.
from Deuteronomy 10:22
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
from Acts 20:21
Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cling to the Lord.
from Acts 20:24
And from there sailed to Antioch, from where they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
from Acts 11:23
Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but to the Jews only.
from Acts 14:26
Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers:
from Acts 11:19
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
Him has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
from Acts 13:38
For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
from Acts 5:31 · a strong link
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
from Luke 2:11 · a strong link
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad.
from Acts 2:36
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
from II Corinthians 5:10
But I say to you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give its account in the day of judgment.
from Ecclesiastes 12:14 · a strong link
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.
Before the LORD: for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
from Acts 17:31
Before the LORD; for he comes to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
from Psalms 96:13
Say among the pagans that the LORD reigns: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
from Psalms 98:9
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
There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
from Matthew 27:2
And to the others he said in my hearing, Go after him through the city, and strike: let not your eye spare, neither have you pity:
from Luke 13:1
Therefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD; Surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore will I also diminish you; neither shall my eye spare, neither will I have any pity.
from Ezekiel 9:5
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.
To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? look, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot listen: look, the word of the LORD is to them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
from Acts 7:51
Yet they listened not to me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
from Jeremiah 6:10
Now be not stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, so that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.
from Jeremiah 7:26
And the LORD said to Moses, I have seen this people, and indeed, it is a stiff-necked people:
from II Chronicles 30:8 · a strong link
Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bronze;
from Exodus 32:9 · a strong link
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
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office:
from Acts 9:15
And I went up by revelation, and laid before them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
from Romans 11:13
And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.
from Galatians 2:2
And when they had come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
from Acts 15:4
When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance to life.
from Acts 14:27
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Psalms 105:12 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