a thread opens
Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the next day.
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 a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall plunder them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goes out from there shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
from Zephaniah 3:3
Her princes in its midst are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
from Jeremiah 5:6
Look, the princes of Israel, every one were in you to their power to shed blood.
from Ezekiel 22:27
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
And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he has chosen will he cause to come near to him.
from Leviticus 21:17
And it shall happen, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the grumblings of the children of Israel, whereby they grumble against you.
from Numbers 16:5 · a strong link
For this reason both you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that you grumble against him?
from Numbers 17:5
And in the morning, then you shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he hears your grumblings against the LORD: and what are we, that you grumble against us?
from Numbers 16:11
And it happened, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and indeed, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
from Exodus 16:7
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
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
from Ephesians 5:25
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.
The look on their faces bears witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.
from Jude 1:11
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
from Isaiah 3:9 · a strong link
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
from Genesis 13:13
And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.
from Genesis 18:20
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And every creature in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be to him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever.
from Luke 2:14
And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look on it.
Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counselor has taught him?
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
And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As my anger and my fury has been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when you shall enter into Egypt: and you shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.
from Jeremiah 23:40
And you shall leave your name for a curse to my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay you, and call his servants by another name:
from Jeremiah 42:18
And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah in Babylon, saying, The LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
from Isaiah 65:15
Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
from Jeremiah 29:22
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
But as we were approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which tries our hearts.
from Deuteronomy 33:9
Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for your eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
from I Thessalonians 2:4
This also comes forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.
from Jeremiah 32:19 · a strong link
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unfathomable are his judgments, and his ways beyond tracing out!
from Isaiah 28:29
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Zephaniah 3:3 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