a thread opens
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. [Not in the earliest manuscripts. King James also had: “wherein the Son of man cometh.”]
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.
Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord does come.
from Matthew 25:13
But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
from Matthew 24:42 · a strong link
But of that day and that hour knows no man, no, not the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
from Matthew 24:36 · a strong link
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
from Mark 13:32 · a strong link
Whoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
from Mark 13:26
a thread opens
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
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
from Isaiah 44:6 · a strong link
And it happened, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he tore his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man does send to me to recover a man of his leprosy? therefore consider, please, and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.
from Deuteronomy 32:39 · a strong link
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, please, and see how this man seeks mischief: for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.
from II Kings 5:7 · a strong link
a thread opens
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.
A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
from I John 3:16 · a strong link
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love.
from John 13:34
See that none repay evil for evil to any man; but always seek to do good, both among yourselves, and to all people.
from II Peter 1:7
a thread opens
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
I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
from Hosea 1:10
Turn, O backsliding children, says the LORD; for I am married to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
from Isaiah 43:6
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says the LORD:
from Jeremiah 3:14
And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
from Jeremiah 31:32
a thread opens
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.
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
from I Corinthians 12:28 · a strong link
Now for a long season Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
from Ephesians 4:11
For the children of Israel shall remain many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
from II Chronicles 15:3
And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while you be with him; and if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
from Hosea 3:4
But when they in their trouble did turn to the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.
from II Chronicles 15:2 · a strong link
a thread opens
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
You know my downsitting and my uprising, you understand my thought in the distance.
from Hebrews 4:12 · a strong link
But I know your dwelling, and your going out, and your coming in, and your rage against me.
from Psalms 139:2 · a strong link
Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
from II Kings 19:27
a thread opens
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:
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
from I Corinthians 5:7
And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
from I Peter 1:19
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 25:13 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