The Vigil

from Matthew 2:23

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 2:23

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Luke 1:26

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

from Matthew 2:23

John 7:41

Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?

from Luke 1:26

John 1:46

And Nathanael said to him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip says to him, Come and see.

from John 7:41 · 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 18:21

And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.

from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link

Acts 7:43

Yes, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which you made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

from Leviticus 18:21

Amos 5:26

But you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which you made to yourselves.

from Acts 7:43

I Kings 11:33

Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.

from Amos 5:26


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,

Hebrews 13:20

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

from Jude 1:24

Zechariah 9:11

As for you also, by the blood of your covenant I have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit in which is no water.

from Hebrews 13:20 · a strong link

Jeremiah 38:6

Then they took Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.

from Zechariah 9:11

Acts 16:24

Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

from Jeremiah 38:6

Jeremiah 29:26

The LORD has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, so that you should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and makes himself a prophet, so that you should put him in prison, and in the stocks.

from Acts 16:24


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.

Isaiah 3:9

The look on their faces bears witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.

from Jude 1:11

Genesis 13:13

But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

from Isaiah 3:9 · a strong link

Genesis 18:20

And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

from Genesis 13:13

Genesis 19:13

For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is grown great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.

from Genesis 18:20


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

John 12:46

I have come a light into the world, so that whoever believes on me should not remain in darkness.

from John 9:5 · 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?

Deuteronomy 32:43

Rejoice, O you nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful to his land, and to his people.

from Romans 12:19

II Kings 9:7

And you shall strike the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

from Deuteronomy 32:43

Deuteronomy 32:35

To me belongs vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

from II Kings 9:7


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.

Psalms 73:25

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

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 Psalms 73:25 · a strong link

Jeremiah 9:23

Thus says the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

from Philippians 3:8 · a strong link

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 2:23 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