a thread opens
The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.
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.
Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of merriment, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.
from Psalms 78:63
I will also cause all her merriment to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
from Jeremiah 7:34 · a strong link
Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the Sabbath, so that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
from Hosea 2:11
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
Blessed is the man whom you choose, and cause to approach to you, so that he may dwell in your courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, even of your holy temple.
from Leviticus 21:17
According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, so that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
from Psalms 65:4
But we must give thanks always to God for you, brothers beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
from Ephesians 1:4
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you, and peace, be multiplied.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.
from I Peter 1:2
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,
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight:
from Jude 1:24 · a strong link
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have betrothed you to one husband, so that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
from Colossians 1:22
For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
from II Corinthians 11:2
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
from Isaiah 54:5
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself.
from Ephesians 5:25 · 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.
And the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:
from Jude 1:11
These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.
from Numbers 26:9 · a strong link
Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: the ruler of the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah:
from Numbers 1:16
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Saying, Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord:
from Luke 19:38
Save now, I beg you, O LORD: O LORD, I beg you, send now prosperity.
from Mark 11:9 · 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?
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to repay with affliction those who afflict you;
from Luke 18:7
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 II Thessalonians 1:6
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
from Revelation of John 18:24 · a strong link
For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you in return.
And Adoni-bezek said, Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their food under my table: as I have done, so God has requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.
from Matthew 7:2
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.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
from Psalms 73:25
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
from Matthew 5:8
No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
from Genesis 32:30
And above the expanse over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
from John 1:18
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Psalms 78:63 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