a thread opens
Render therefore to all their dues: taxes to whom taxes are due; revenue to whom revenue; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
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.
He says, Yes. And when he had come into the house, Jesus spoke first to him, saying, What do you think, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
from Romans 13:7 · a strong link
Show me the tribute money. And they brought to him a denarius.
from Matthew 17:25
But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him a hundred denarii: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that you owe.
from Matthew 22:19
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.
No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
from Leviticus 21:21
And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or a fortune-teller, or a spellcaster, or a sorceress,
from Leviticus 18:21
Many of them also which used sorcery brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
from Deuteronomy 18:10
But there was a certain man, called Simon, which formerly in the same city used sorcery, and cast a spell on the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
from Acts 19:19
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,
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
from Jude 1:24
The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
from Revelation of John 14:5 · a strong link
And it shall happen in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again rely on him that struck them; but shall rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
from Zephaniah 3:13
At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
from Isaiah 10:20
Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.
from Isaiah 17:7
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
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.
from Hebrews 11:4 · a strong link
For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
from Hebrews 12:24
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
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 Colossians 1:20
Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
from Isaiah 9:6
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
And the nations were angry, and your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, so that they should be judged, and that you should give reward to your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth.
Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so they persecuted the prophets before you.
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and complete what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
from Matthew 5:12
My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations;
from Colossians 1:24
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
from James 1:2 · a strong link
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.
Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
from Luke 14:26
And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O God; for you have also spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.
from Deuteronomy 33:9
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross.
from I Chronicles 17:17
For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
from Philippians 2:8
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
from I Peter 3:18
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Romans 13:7 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