The Vigil

from Matthew 20:22

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 20:22

But Jesus answered and said, You know not what you ask. Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say to him, We are able.

Isaiah 51:22

Thus says your Lord the LORD, and your God that pleads the cause of his people, Look, I have taken out of your hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; you shall no more drink it again:

from Matthew 20:22

Isaiah 51:17

Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which have drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; you have drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.

from Isaiah 51:22 · a strong link

Isaiah 52:1

Awake, awake; put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for from now on there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.

from Isaiah 51:17 · 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 21:17

Speak to Aaron, saying, Whoever he be of your seed in their generations that has any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.

from Leviticus 10:3

Psalms 65:4

Blessed is the man whom you choose, and cause to approach to you, so that he may dwell in your courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, even of your holy temple.

from Leviticus 21:17

Ephesians 1:4

According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, so that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

from Psalms 65:4

Acts 18:10

For I am with you, and no man shall set on you to hurt you: for I have much people in this city.

from Ephesians 1:4

John 10:16

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

from Acts 18:10

I Peter 2:25

For you were as sheep going astray; but are now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

from John 10:16 · 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,

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

I Peter 5:4

And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away.

from Hebrews 13:20

Revelation of John 20:11

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

from I Peter 5:4


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.

Genesis 4:3

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

Numbers 18:12

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

Deuteronomy 18:4

The firstfruit also of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, shall you give him.

from Numbers 18:12

Leviticus 23:10

Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest:

from Deuteronomy 18:4


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

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

Colossians 1:20

And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

from Luke 2:14 · a strong link

Psalms 89:14

Justice and judgment are the habitation of your throne: mercy and truth shall go before your face.

from Psalms 85:10 · 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?

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

James 1:5

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, without reproach; and it shall be given him.

from Proverbs 14:6

John 14:13

And whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

from James 1:5


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

II Peter 1:3

According as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue:

from Philippians 3:8 · a strong link

I Peter 5:10

But the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and establish you.

from II Peter 1:3 · a strong link

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

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 20:22 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