a thread opens
My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
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.
Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.
from Psalms 57:4 · a strong link
Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for you have struck all my enemies upon the cheek bone; you have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
from Psalms 58:6 · a strong link
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Are you not it that has cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
from Psalms 3:7
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 said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
from Leviticus 10:3
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you, and your fellows that sit before you: for they are men wondered at: for, look, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
from Isaiah 49:3
And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;
from Zechariah 3:8
Look, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwells in mount Zion.
from Isaiah 20:3 · a strong link
And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother, Look, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
from Isaiah 8:18 · a strong link
But we desire to hear of you what you think: for as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against.
from Luke 2:34
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,
Now to him that is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.
from Ephesians 3:20 · a strong link
Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for them that fear you; which you have worked for them that trust in you before the sons of men!
from I Corinthians 2:9 · a strong link
To an inheritance imperishable, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you,
from Psalms 31:19 · a strong link
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away.
from I Peter 1:4 · 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
An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.
from I John 3:12
Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hate you.
from Proverbs 29:27
I have given them your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
from I John 3:13 · a strong link
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
from Colossians 1:20 · a strong link
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
from I John 4:9
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?
A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the director of music upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you:
from Luke 18:7 · a strong link
And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.
from Psalms 88:1
For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations around.
from I Chronicles 2:6
And these are they that waited with their children. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Shemuel,
from I Kings 4:31
So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;
from I Chronicles 6:33
And his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, even Asaph the son of Berachiah, the son of Shimea,
from I Chronicles 15:17
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.
He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
So when they had dined, Jesus says to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, love you me more than these? He says to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He says to him, Feed my lambs.
from Matthew 10:37
Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
from John 21:15
Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
from Ephesians 6:24
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
from Matthew 22:37
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Psalms 57:4 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