a thread opens
And his disciples say to him, Where should we get so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
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.
And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, so that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves provisions.
from Matthew 15:33
But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, Send her away; for she cries after us.
from Matthew 14:15
A Psalm of David. To you will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if you are silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
from Matthew 15:23
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 let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
from Leviticus 10:3
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
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
Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brothers to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and stayed all night in the mount.
from Exodus 18:12
And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and indeed, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
from Genesis 31:54
And their father Israel said to them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:
from Genesis 37:25 · 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
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
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
from Ephesians 5:27
And saying, Sirs, why do you these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach to you that you should turn from these vanities to the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things in it:
from Hebrews 9:14
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months.
from Acts 14:15 · 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.
And in process of time it happened, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
from Jude 1:11
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer to the LORD, them have I given you.
from Genesis 4:3
The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk.
from Numbers 18:12
And now, look, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which you, O LORD, have given me. And you shall set it before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God:
from Exodus 23:19 · a strong link
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
For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
from Psalms 69:34
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?
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 Luke 18:7 · a strong link
Beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.
But I say to you, That you resist not evil: but whoever shall strike you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
from Romans 12:19 · a strong link
Then said Abishai to David, God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day: now therefore let me strike him, please, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not strike him the second time.
from Matthew 5:39
And the men of David said to him, Look, the day of which the LORD said to you, Look, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it shall seem good to you. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe secretly.
from I Samuel 26:8
Please, forgive the trespass of your maidservant: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fights the battles of the LORD, and evil has not been found in you all your days.
from I Samuel 24:4
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.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Because your loving devotion is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
from Psalms 73:25 · a strong link
I beg you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
from Psalms 63:3
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart;
from Romans 12:1
Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power.
from II Corinthians 4:1
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 15:33 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