The Vigil

from Matthew 18:21

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 18:21

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

Luke 17:3

Take heed to yourselves: If your brother trespass against you, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

from Matthew 18:21 · a strong link

II Chronicles 19:6

And said to the judges, Take heed what you do: for you judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.

from Luke 17:3

Deuteronomy 1:17

You shall not respect persons in judgment; but you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it to me, and I will hear it.

from II Chronicles 19:6 · 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.

Exodus 14:4

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.

from Leviticus 10:3

Exodus 9:16

And in very deed for this cause have I raised you up, to show in you my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

from Exodus 14:4

Proverbs 16:4

The LORD has made all things for himself: yes, even the wicked for the day of evil.

from Exodus 9:16 · a strong link

Isaiah 43:7

Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yes, I have made him.

from Proverbs 16:4 · a strong link

Jeremiah 10:25

Pour out your fury upon the pagans that know you not, and upon the families that call not on your name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

from Isaiah 63:19


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 16:25

Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

from Jude 1:24

Matthew 13:35

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

from Romans 16:25

Titus 1:2

In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the world began;

from Matthew 13:35

I John 1:2

(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show to you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us;)

from I John 2:25


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.

I John 3:12

Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why he slew him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

from Jude 1:11 · a strong link

Hebrews 11:4

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks.

from I John 3:12 · a strong link

Genesis 4:10

And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.

from Hebrews 11:4 · a strong link


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

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

Psalms 96:11

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and its fullness.

from Luke 2:14

Psalms 93:1

The LORD reigns, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, with which he has girded himself: the world also is established, that it cannot be moved.

from Psalms 97:1


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

I Timothy 1:16

However for this cause I obtained mercy, so that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all patience, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to eternal life.

from II Peter 3:9

I Timothy 1:13

Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and insolent: but I obtained mercy, because I did it in ignorance in unbelief.

from I Timothy 1:16 · a strong link

John 9:39

And Jesus said, For judgment I have come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

from I Timothy 1:13

John 3:19

And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

from John 9:39 · a strong link

II Peter 3:3

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

from John 3:19


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.

Philippians 3:8

Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as rubbish, so that I may win Christ,

from Luke 14:26 · a strong link

I John 5:20

And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

from Philippians 3:8

I John 5:11

And this is the testimony, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

from I John 5:20

John 6:68

Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? you have the words of eternal life.

from I John 5:11

John 6:63

It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.

from John 6:68

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 18:21 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