a thread opens
Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
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.
Ask now, and see whether a man does toil with child? why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in labor, and all faces are turned into paleness?
from Psalms 69:23
O inhabitant of Lebanon, that make your nest in the cedars, how gracious shall you be when pangs come upon you, the pain as of a woman in labor!
from Jeremiah 30:6
For thus says the LORD to the king’s house of Judah; You are Gilead to me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make you a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
from Jeremiah 22:23
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.
I was mute, I opened not my mouth; because you did it.
from Leviticus 10:3
And the king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD has said to him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Why have you done so?
from Psalms 39:9
Then Jesus said to Peter, Put up your sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it?
from II Samuel 16:10
Saying, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but yours, be done.
from John 18:11
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
from Luke 22:42
For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it is received with thanksgiving:
from Luke 22:17
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 the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
from Jude 1:24
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away.
from Hebrews 13:20
From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but to all them also that love his appearing.
from I Peter 5:4 · a strong link
And every man that strives for the mastery is self-controlled in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown; but we an imperishable.
from II Timothy 4:8
And to knowledge self-control; and to self-control patience; and to patience godliness;
from I Corinthians 9:25
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.
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
from Jude 1:11
Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons.
from Numbers 16:1
Look, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.
from Numbers 27:3
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
from Ezekiel 18:4 · a strong link
a thread opens
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
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 John 17:4
By Silvanus, a faithful brother to you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.
from Acts 20:24
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?
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great reward.
from Luke 18:7
And you shall be blessed; for they cannot recompense you: for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
from Hebrews 10:35
He that has pity upon the poor lends to the LORD; and that which he has given will he pay him again.
from Luke 14:14
And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me.
from Proverbs 19:17
And whoever shall receive one such little child in my name receives me.
from Matthew 25:40
And my temptation in my flesh you despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
from Matthew 18:5
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.
Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as rubbish, so that I may win Christ,
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
According as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue:
from Philippians 3:8 · a strong link
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 II Peter 1:3 · a strong link
All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.
from II Timothy 1:9
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
from John 6:37
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Psalms 69:23 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