The Vigil

from Matthew 12:18

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 12:18

Look, my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles.

Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

from Matthew 12:18

Psalms 34:18

The LORD is near to them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as are of a contrite spirit.

from Isaiah 61:1 · a strong link

Psalms 51:17

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

from Psalms 34:18 · a strong link


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.

Leviticus 21:21

No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

from Leviticus 10:3

Leviticus 21:6

They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.

from Leviticus 21:21

Leviticus 3:11

And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to the LORD.

from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link

Numbers 28:2

Command the children of Israel, and say to them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a pleasing aroma to me, shall you observe to offer to me in their due season.

from Leviticus 3:11

Genesis 8:21

And the LORD smelled a pleasing aroma; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again strike any more everything living, as I have done.

from Numbers 28:2

Genesis 6:5

And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

from Genesis 8:21 · a strong link


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,

Romans 5:13

(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

from Psalms 32:2

Romans 3:19

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

from Romans 4:15


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


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

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

Luke 1:79

To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

from Luke 2:14 · a strong link

Isaiah 59:8

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whoever goes into it shall not know peace.

from Romans 3:17 · 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?

I Timothy 5:5

Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.

from Luke 18:7

Luke 2:37

And she was a widow of about eighty and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

from I Timothy 5:5 · a strong link

Acts 14:23

And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

from Luke 2:37

II John 1:1

The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

from Acts 14:23

I John 1:8

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

from II John 1:2


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.

Revelation of John 12:11

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.

from Luke 14:26 · a strong link

John 16:33

These things I have spoken to you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but take courage; I have overcome the world.

from Revelation of John 12:11 · a strong link

II Corinthians 13:11

Finally, brothers, farewell. Be perfect, be encouraged, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

from John 16:33

III John 1:11

Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He that does good is of God: but he that does evil has not seen God.

from I Peter 3:11

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 12:18 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