a thread opens
Woe to the world because of offenses! for it must be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!
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.
The Son of man goes as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.
from Matthew 18:7
But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
from Matthew 26:24
Then he said to them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
from Matthew 26:54
Afterward he appeared to the eleven as they sat at table, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he had risen.
from Luke 24:25
And as they thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, Peace be to you.
from Mark 16:14
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As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
Thus says the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
from I Corinthians 8:4
Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.
from Isaiah 44:6 · a strong link
Look, the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up its towers, they raised up its palaces; and he brought it to ruin.
from Isaiah 43:14
And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in its cities.
from Isaiah 23:13
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By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit:
from Romans 5:8 · a strong link
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin to salvation.
from I Peter 3:18 · a strong link
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But the anointing which you have received of him remains in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall remain in him.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
from I John 2:27
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall happen, that in the place where it was said to them, You are not my people, there it shall be said to them, You are the sons of the living God.
from Hebrews 8:10
And I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, You are my people; and they shall say, You are my God.
from Hosea 1:10
Yes, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.
from Hosea 2:23
And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.
from Zechariah 8:22
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
from Isaiah 25:7
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And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, varieties of tongues.
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.
from I Corinthians 12:28
Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
from I Timothy 5:17
But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.
from I Corinthians 9:5
While he yet talked to the people, look, his mother and his brothers stood without, desiring to speak with him.
from Galatians 1:19
For neither did his brothers believe in him.
from Matthew 12:46 · a strong link
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I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly to you.
For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart.
from I Chronicles 29:17
And the very God of peace sanctify you completely; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
from Hebrews 4:12 · a strong link
Who shall also confirm you to the end, so that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
from I Thessalonians 5:23
That you may be blameless and innocent, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world;
from I Corinthians 1:8
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Clean out therefore the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and he said to the Jews, Look, your King!
from I Corinthians 5:7
There they laid Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the tomb was near at hand.
from John 19:14
The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, so that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was a high day,) begged Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
from John 19:42 · a strong link
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 18:7 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