a thread opens
For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation.
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.
Why leap you, you high hills? this is the hill which God desires to dwell in; yes, the LORD will dwell in it for ever.
from Psalms 132:13
But you have come to mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
from Psalms 68:16
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Look, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints,
from Hebrews 12:22
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.
And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
from Leviticus 10:3
And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.
from Exodus 19:22
And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
from Exodus 24:5
And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
from Exodus 18:12
And she called the name of the LORD that spoke to her, You God see me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that sees me?
from Exodus 24:11
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
from Genesis 16:13 · a strong link
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,
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
from Jude 1:24
Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing in which they dealt proudly he was above them.
from John 10:29
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.
from Exodus 18:11
Say to God, How terrible are you in your works! through the greatness of your power shall your enemies submit themselves to you.
from I Chronicles 16:25
By terrible things in righteousness will you answer us, O God of our salvation; who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are in the distance upon the sea:
from Psalms 66:3 · a strong link
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.
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why he slew him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks.
from I John 3:12 · a strong link
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
from Hebrews 11:4
O my dove, who are in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see your countenance, let me hear your voice; for sweet is your voice, and your countenance is beautiful.
from Proverbs 15:8
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
from Luke 2:14
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
from Acts 10:36
And I looked, and, look, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred forty-four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
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?
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
from Luke 18:7 · a strong link
For true and righteous are his judgments: for he has judged the great prostitute, which did corrupt the earth with her sexual immorality, and has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
from Revelation of John 6:10 · a strong link
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
א ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
from Psalms 19:9
Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man that fears the LORD, that delights greatly in his commandments.
from Psalms 119:1
A Song of Ascents. Blessed is every one that fears the LORD; that walks in his ways.
from Psalms 112:1 · a strong link
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.
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 Luke 14:26 · a strong link
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
from Acts 20:24
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
To which I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
from Acts 9:15
Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power.
from I Timothy 2:7
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Psalms 132:13 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