The Vigil

from Matthew 11:9

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

Matthew 11:9

But what went you out to see? A prophet? yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.

Matthew 14:5

And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.

from Matthew 11:9

John 5:35

He was a burning and a shining light: and you were willing for a while to rejoice in his light.

from Matthew 21:26


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.

Job 2:10

But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

from Psalms 39:9 · a strong link

James 5:10

Take, my brothers, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

from Job 2:10

Acts 7:52

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers:

from James 5:10 · a strong link

Matthew 23:31

Therefore you be witnesses to yourselves, that you are the children of them which killed the prophets.

from Acts 7:52

I Thessalonians 2:15

Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all people:

from Matthew 23:31


a thread opens

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,

Colossians 1:22

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

Ephesians 5:27

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

from Colossians 1:22 · a strong link

II Peter 3:14

Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

from Ephesians 5:27

I Thessalonians 3:13

To the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

from II Peter 3:14 · a strong link

Jude 1:14

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Look, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints,

from I Thessalonians 3:13


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.

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 Jude 1:11

Luke 17:1

Then he said to the disciples, It is impossible but that offenses will come: but woe to him, through whom they come!

from Matthew 18:7 · a strong link

Romans 14:20

For food destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eats with offense.

from Luke 17:1


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

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

Colossians 1:20

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

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: look, your King comes to you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt the foal of a donkey.

from Colossians 1:20

Isaiah 9:6

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 Zechariah 9:9 · 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?

II Peter 3:9

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

Hosea 6:1

Come, and let us return to the LORD: for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck, and he will bind us up.

from Hosea 14:1

Isaiah 2:3

And many people shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

from Hosea 6:1


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

Matthew 22:37

Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

from Matthew 10:37 · a strong link

Luke 10:27

And he answering said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.

from Matthew 22:37 · a strong link

Matthew 19:19

Honor your father and your mother: and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

from Luke 10:27 · a strong link

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 11:9 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