a thread opens
For I have become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget your statutes.
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.
The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten your law.
from Psalms 119:83
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant; for I do not forget your commandments.
from Psalms 119:61
But he answered, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
from Psalms 119:176
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter you not:
from Matthew 15:24 · a strong link
And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
from Matthew 10:5
a thread opens
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.
Thus says the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
from I Corinthians 8:4
Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.
from Isaiah 44:6 · a strong link
Look, the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up its towers, they raised up its palaces; and he brought it to ruin.
from Isaiah 43:14
O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hand is my indignation.
from Isaiah 23:13
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.
He who says that he remains in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
from I John 3:16
Whoever remains in him sins not: whoever sins has not seen him, neither known him.
from I John 2:6
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
from I John 3:6
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.
But the Helper, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.
from I John 2:27 · a strong link
And there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the comfort of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
from John 14:26
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
from Luke 2:25 · a strong link
And the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and shuns evil?
from Luke 1:6
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and shunned evil.
from Job 1:8 · a strong link
My foot has held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
from Job 1:1
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.
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone;
from I Corinthians 12:28
To you therefore which believe he is precious: but to them which are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the cornerstone,
from Ephesians 2:20 · a strong link
And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: to which also they were appointed.
from I Peter 2:7
For certain people have crept in unnoticed, who were long ago designated for this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into sensuality, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
from I Peter 2:8
And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
from Jude 1:4
a thread opens
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.
And you, Solomon my son, know you the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off for ever.
from I Chronicles 29:17 · a strong link
But, O LORD of hosts, that judge righteously, that try the inmost thoughts and the heart, let me see your vengeance on them: for to you have I revealed my cause.
from I Chronicles 28:9
But, O LORD of hosts, that try the righteous, and see the inmost thoughts and the heart, let me see your vengeance on them: for to you have I opened my cause.
from Jeremiah 11:20 · a strong link
Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God tries the hearts and inmost thoughts.
from Jeremiah 20:12
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:
The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
from I Corinthians 5:7
And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
from John 1:29
And immediately I was in the spirit: and look, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Psalms 119:83 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