a thread opens
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
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.
Now it happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
from Psalms 137:1 · a strong link
And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending to him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
from Ezekiel 1:1
And he says to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
from Acts 10:11
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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
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his goings.
from Genesis 16:13
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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,
But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.
from Jude 1:24
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death;
from I Peter 4:13 · a strong link
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek those things above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God.
from Philippians 3:10
And Jesus said, I am: and you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
from Colossians 3:1
Who being the radiance of his glory, and the exact imprint of his nature, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
from Mark 14:62 · a strong link
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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.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
from Jude 1:11
Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
Do not you yet understand, that whatever enters in at the mouth goes into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
from I Corinthians 6:13
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of life; and it is set on fire of hell.
from Matthew 15:17
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Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do.
from Luke 2:14
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and breathed his last.
from John 17:4
Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
from John 19:30 · a strong link
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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 the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he sees that their power has gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
Look, I will bring evil upon you, and will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisses against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,
from Deuteronomy 32:36
Therefore, look, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisses against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man takes away dung, till it be all gone.
from I Kings 21:21 · a strong link
For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.
from I Kings 14:10 · a strong link
And Jehoahaz begged the LORD, and the LORD listened to him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.
from II Kings 14:26 · a strong link
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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.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Because your loving devotion is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
from Psalms 73:25 · a strong link
For his anger endures but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
from Psalms 63:3
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
from Psalms 30:5
He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD has spoken it.
from Matthew 5:4
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Psalms 137:1 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