The Vigil

from Matthew 23:15

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 23:15

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Acts 2:10

Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

from Matthew 23:15

Acts 16:6

Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia,

from Acts 2:10 · a strong link

I Corinthians 16:1

Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do you.

from Acts 16:6


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 21:6

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 10:3

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

Leviticus 22:2

Speak to Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow to me: I am the LORD.

from Leviticus 18:21

Exodus 13:12

That you shall set apart to the LORD all that opens the matrix, and every firstling that comes of a beast which you have; the males shall be the LORD’s.

from Leviticus 22:2

Numbers 18:15

Everything that opens the matrix in all flesh, which they bring to the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be yours: nevertheless the firstborn of man shall you surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shall you redeem.

from Exodus 13:12 · a strong link

Exodus 34:20

But the firstling of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb: and if you redeem him not, then shall you break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.

from Numbers 18:15 · 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,

Ephesians 3:20

Now to him that is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

from Jude 1:24 · a strong link

James 4:12

There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who are you that judge another?

from Ephesians 3:20 · a strong link

Matthew 10:28

And do not fear them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

from James 4:12 · a strong link

Jeremiah 5:22

Fear not me? says the LORD: will you not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though its waves toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

from Matthew 10:28

Amos 9:6

It is he that builds his stories in the heaven, and has founded his troop in the earth; he that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.

from Jeremiah 5:22


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.

II Peter 2:15

Which have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

from Jude 1:11 · a strong link

I Kings 18:18

And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your father’s house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and you have followed the Baals.

from Proverbs 28:4

I Kings 9:9

And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore has the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

from I Kings 18:18


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

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

Romans 5:1

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

from Luke 2:14

Isaiah 27:5

Or let him take hold of my strength, so that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.

from Romans 5:1

Isaiah 25:4

For you have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

from Isaiah 27:5


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?

Jeremiah 20:11

But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

from Luke 18:7

John 18:4

Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said to them, Whom seek you?

from Jeremiah 20:11

John 13:1

Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come that he should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own in the world, he loved them to the end.

from John 18:4 · a strong link

Hebrews 6:11

And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope to the end:

from John 13:1

Hebrews 3:14

For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end;

from Hebrews 6:11

I Peter 4:13

But rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.

from Hebrews 3:14


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.

Revelation of John 12:11

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.

from Luke 14:26 · a strong link

Ephesians 6:13

Therefore take to you the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

from II Corinthians 10:4

Luke 21:36

Watch therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall happen, and to stand before the Son of man.

from Ephesians 6:13

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 23:15 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