a thread opens
You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
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 out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, so that with it he should strike the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
from Psalms 2:9
And she brought forth a male child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up to God, and to his throne.
Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which labors has brought forth: then the remnant of his brothers shall return to the children of Israel.
Now why do you cry out aloud? is there no king in you? is your counselor perished? for pangs have taken you as a woman in labor.
from Micah 5:3
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that labors: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
from Micah 4:9
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
And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
from Isaiah 44:6 · a strong link
And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
from Matthew 27:37
And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
from John 19:19 · 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
Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
from Acts 20:28
Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
from Philippians 1:1
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 you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
from I John 2:27 · a strong link
You love righteousness, and hate wickedness: therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
from I John 2:20
You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
from Psalms 45:7 · a strong link
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
from Hebrews 1:9 · a strong link
Look, my servant, whom I uphold; my elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
from Isaiah 61:1 · a strong link
But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
from Isaiah 42:1
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
And he saw them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the cornerstone?
from Ephesians 2:20
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Look, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes will not panic.
from Luke 20:17 · a strong link
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and to him shall the gathering of the people be.
from Isaiah 28:16 · a strong link
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:
from Genesis 49:10
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
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are out of place;
from I Chronicles 28:9
They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
from Romans 1:28
And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles, neither whatever works abomination, or makes a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
from Titus 1:16
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:
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.
from I Corinthians 5:7
Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
from Exodus 13:6
The feast of unleavened bread shall you keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt.
from Exodus 12:15 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Psalms 2:9 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