a thread opens
Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in labor.
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 sorrows of a laboring woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.
from Psalms 48:6
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 Hosea 13:13
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
Like as a woman with child, that draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and cries out in her pangs; so have we been in your sight, O LORD.
from Isaiah 13:8
a thread opens
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
But showed first to them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, so that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.
from Acts 20:21
Repent you therefore, and be converted, so that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
from Acts 26:20 · a strong link
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
from Acts 3:19
Then he said to me, See you do it not: for I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
from II Thessalonians 1:7
Let no man disqualify you in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly arrogant by his fleshly mind,
a thread opens
Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:
And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
from Acts 13:38
Namely, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them; and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
from II Corinthians 5:18
I in them, and you in me, so that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them, as you have loved me.
from II Corinthians 5:19
And I have declared to them your name, and will declare it: that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.
from John 17:23 · a strong link
Jesus answered him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
from John 17:26
If you love me, keep my commandments.
from John 14:23 · 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.
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
from Acts 17:31
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
from Romans 2:16 · a strong link
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes: but know you, that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
from Ecclesiastes 12:14 · a strong link
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
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Son Jesus; whom you delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
from Matthew 27:2 · a strong link
But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
from Acts 3:13
Thus says the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
from John 19:15
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You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you.
For the LORD had said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, You are a stiff-necked people: I will come up into the midst of you in a moment, and consume you: therefore now put off your ornaments from you, so that I may know what to do to you.
from Acts 7:51 · a strong link
In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.
from Exodus 33:5
And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
from Job 34:20
You shall be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
from Isaiah 30:30
And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
from Isaiah 29:6
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
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
from Acts 9:15 · a strong link
Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.
from Acts 13:2
And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brothers accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house:
from Acts 8:29
And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit.
from Acts 11:12
Then he called them in, and lodged them. And on the next day Peter went away with them, and certain brothers from Joppa accompanied him.
from Acts 10:45 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Psalms 48:6 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