a thread opens
I will incline my ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
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.
I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
from Psalms 49:4 · a strong link
He answered and said to them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
from Psalms 78:2
And he said, To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
from Matthew 13:11
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.
Speak to Aaron, saying, Whoever he be of your seed in their generations that has any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he has chosen will he cause to come near to him.
from Leviticus 21:17
And take to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, so that he may minister to me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
from Numbers 16:5
Therefore you and your sons with you shall keep your priest’s office for everything of the altar, and within the veil; and you shall serve: I have given your priest’s office to you as a service of gift: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.
from Exodus 28:1 · a strong link
And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.
from Numbers 18:7
And when the tabernacle sets out, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.
from Numbers 3:10 · 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,
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
But the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and establish you.
from I Peter 4:13
Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
from I Peter 5:10 · a strong link
For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
from II Timothy 1:9 · a strong link
He that believes on the Son has eternal life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God remains on him.
from Ephesians 2:8 · 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
That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar.
from Hebrews 11:4 · a strong link
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
from Matthew 23:35
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
from Luke 2:14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
from Isaiah 9:6 · a strong link
And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
from John 1:1 · a strong link
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
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to repay with affliction those who afflict you;
from Revelation of John 6:10 · a strong link
If I sharpen my glittering sword, and my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
from II Thessalonians 1:6
For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: look, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
from Deuteronomy 32:41
Thus says the Lord GOD; Because that Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them;
from Isaiah 34:5
Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to its foundation.
from Ezekiel 25:12
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
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
from Acts 20:24
Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
from II Timothy 4:6 · a strong link
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
from Philippians 2:17 · a strong link
And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
from II Corinthians 12:15
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Psalms 49:4 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