a thread opens
A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me; he shall lie all night between my breasts.
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.
All your garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made you glad.
from Song of Solomon 1:13
Until the day breaks, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
from Psalms 45:8
Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
from Song of Solomon 4:6
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 there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
from Zechariah 3:8 · a strong link
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
from Isaiah 11:1 · a strong link
Then they reviled him, and said, You are his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples.
from Isaiah 53:2
Look, you are called a Jew, and rest in the law, and make your boast of God,
from John 9:28
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
Blessed is the man to whom the LORD imputes not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
from Revelation of John 14:5 · a strong link
Namely, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them; and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
from Psalms 32:2
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
from II Corinthians 5:19
We love him, because he first loved us.
from I John 4:10
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 in process of time it happened, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
from Jude 1:11
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer to the LORD, them have I given you.
from Genesis 4:3
The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk.
from Numbers 18:12
That you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which you shall bring of your land that the LORD your God gives you, and shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God shall choose to place his name there.
from Exodus 34:26
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?
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some men count slowness; but is patience toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
from Luke 18:7
However for this cause I obtained mercy, so that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all patience, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to eternal life.
from II Peter 3:9
Therefore I say to you, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.
from I Timothy 1:16
And when he saw their faith, he said to him, Man, your sins are forgiven you.
from Luke 7:47
And he said to her, Your sins are forgiven.
from Luke 5:20
And indeed, they brought to him a man paralyzed, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic; Son, take courage; your sins are forgiven.
from Luke 7:48 · 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.
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
Delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom now I send you,
from Acts 20:24
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office:
from Acts 26:17
But the Lord said to him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
from Romans 11:13 · a strong link
And he said to me, Depart: for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.
from Acts 9:15
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Song of Solomon 1:13 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