The Vigil

from Exodus 30:20

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.

a thread opens

Exodus 30:20

When they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire to the LORD:

Hebrews 12:28

Therefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

from Exodus 30:20

Hebrews 10:22

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

from Hebrews 12:28

Psalms 119:7

I will praise you with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned your righteous judgments.

from Hebrews 10:22


a thread opens

Leviticus 10:3

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.

Exodus 19:22

And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.

from Leviticus 10:3

Exodus 24:5

And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.

from Exodus 19:22

Exodus 18:12

And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

from Exodus 24:5

Deuteronomy 12:7

And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.

from Exodus 18:12

Leviticus 23:40

And you shall take you on the first day the boughs of fine trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.

from Deuteronomy 12:7 · a strong link

Deuteronomy 16:14

And you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within your gates.

from Leviticus 23:40


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Jude 1:24

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,

John 10:29

My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

from Jude 1:24

John 6:37

All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.

from John 10:29

John 10:28

And I give to them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

from John 6:37

Romans 5:2

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

from John 10:28

II Corinthians 4:17

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

from Romans 5:2


a thread opens

Jude 1:11

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.

II Peter 2:15

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

Revelation of John 2:14

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

Genesis 49:1

And Jacob called to his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.

from Numbers 24:14


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Acts 10:36

The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)

from Luke 2:14

Matthew 28:18

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.

from Acts 10:36 · a strong link

Hebrews 2:8

You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.

from Matthew 28:18 · a strong link


a thread opens

Luke 18:7

And shall not God give justice to his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?

Jeremiah 20:11

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

Jeremiah 15:20

And I will make you to this people a fenced bronze wall: and they shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you: for I am with you to save you and to deliver you, says the LORD.

from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link

Jeremiah 1:18

For, look, I have made you this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

from Jeremiah 15:20 · a strong link

Jeremiah 9:7

Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, Look, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?

from Jeremiah 6:27

Malachi 3:3

And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, so that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness.

from Jeremiah 9:7 · a strong link


a thread opens

Luke 14:26

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.

Matthew 10:37

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

John 1:29

The next day John sees Jesus coming to him, and says, Look, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.

from II Corinthians 5:14

Matthew 1:21

And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

from John 1:29 · a strong link

Luke 2:11

For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

from Matthew 1:21 · a strong link

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Exodus 30:20 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