a thread opens
And speak to him, saying, Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, Look, the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
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.
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 Zechariah 6:12
As many were astonished at you; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
from Isaiah 53:2 · a strong link
I may count all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
from Isaiah 52:14
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 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.
from Leviticus 10:3
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
from Exodus 14:4
Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.
from Exodus 7:3
And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:
from Psalms 135:9
Or has God tried to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
from Deuteronomy 6:22
And have brought forth your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
from Deuteronomy 4:34 · a strong link
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 of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
from Jude 1:24
Having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he has purposed in himself:
from Romans 16:25 · a strong link
How that by revelation he made known to me the mystery; (as I wrote before in few words,
from Ephesians 1:9
For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
from Ephesians 3:3 · a strong link
Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
from Galatians 1:12
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.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
from Jude 1:11
Woe to the world because of offenses! for it must be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!
For there must be also heresies among you, so that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
from Matthew 18:7
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, so that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
from I Corinthians 11:19 · a strong link
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
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 Luke 2:14
For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
from Isaiah 9:6 · a strong link
But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
from Luke 2:11
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?
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
from Luke 18:7
Let all my enemies be ashamed and deeply troubled: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek your name, O LORD.
from Psalms 6:10
They looked to him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
from Psalms 83:16
For you will light my lamp: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
from Psalms 34:5
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do to them, and not forsake them.
from Psalms 18:28
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
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 Psalms 73:25 · a strong link
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
from Philippians 3:8
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
from Philippians 3:7
The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver.
from Proverbs 23:23
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Zechariah 6:12 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