a thread opens
Thus says the LORD; I am returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
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.
Therefore thus says the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, says the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.
from Zechariah 8:3
And he brought me there, and there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
from Zechariah 1:16
I lifted up my eyes again, and looked, and look, a man with a measuring line in his hand.
from Ezekiel 40:3
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
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
from Exodus 14:4
And I have declared to them your name, and will declare it: that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.
from Romans 9:17
I have manifested your name to the men which you gave me out of the world: yours they were, and you gave them me; and they have kept your word.
from John 17:26 · a strong link
He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
from John 17:6
But whoever keeps his word, in him truly is the love of God perfected: by this we know that we are in him.
from John 14:21 · 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,
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
Who gave himself for us, so that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works.
from Colossians 1:22
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
from Titus 2:14
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.
from Galatians 2:20 · a strong link
Knowing this, that our old self is crucified with him, so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that from now on we should not serve sin.
from Galatians 6:14 · 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.
Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
from Jude 1:11 · a strong link
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 II Peter 2:15 · a strong link
Look Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, has found?
from I Corinthians 10:18
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and its fullness.
from Luke 2:14
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moves in it.
from Psalms 96:11
Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
from Psalms 69:34 · 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
Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?
from Revelation of John 6:10 · a strong link
In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, of which the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
from Zechariah 1:12
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
from Daniel 9:2
He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.
from Ezra 1:1
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.
He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
So when they had dined, Jesus says to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, love you me more than these? He says to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He says to him, Feed my lambs.
from Matthew 10:37
Meditate upon these things; give yourself wholly to them; that your profiting may appear to all.
from John 21:15
Let your light so shine before men, so that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.
from I Timothy 4:15
That they do good, that they be rich in good works, generous and willing to share;
from Matthew 5:16
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Zechariah 8:3 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