The Vigil

from Matthew 26:31

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 26:31

Then says Jesus to them, All you shall fall away because of me this night: for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

Zechariah 13:7

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, says the LORD of hosts: strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn my hand upon the little ones.

from Matthew 26:31 · a strong link

Zechariah 11:7

And I will shepherd the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took to me two poles; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.

from Zechariah 11:4 · 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

Numbers 16:5

And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he has chosen will he cause to come near to him.

from Leviticus 21:17

Ezekiel 40:46

And the room whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister to him.

from Numbers 16:5

Leviticus 6:12

And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.

from Ezekiel 40:46

Leviticus 9:24

And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

from Leviticus 6:12

I Kings 18:38

Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water in the trench.

from Leviticus 9:24


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,

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 Jude 1:24

James 1:2

My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations;

from I Peter 4:13 · a strong link

Revelation of John 2:10

Fear none of those things which you shall suffer: look, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, so that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days: be faithful to death, and I will give you a crown of life.

from James 1:2 · a strong link

Revelation of John 13:15

And he had power to give life to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

from Revelation of John 2:10

Revelation of John 16:2

And the first went, and poured out his bowl upon the earth; and there fell a foul and painful sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

from Revelation of John 13:15


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 4:10

And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.

from Genesis 18:20


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

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

John 17:4

I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do.

from Luke 2:14

Philippians 3:13

Brothers, I count not myself to have taken hold: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things behind, and straining forward to those things before,

from II Timothy 4:7


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?

Romans 8:33

Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies.

from Luke 18:7

Romans 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

from Romans 8:33

Romans 5:1

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

from Romans 8:1 · a strong link

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

Matthew 7:25

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

from Isaiah 25:4 · a strong link


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.

Matthew 10:37

He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

from Luke 14:26 · a strong link

Matthew 22:37

Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

from Matthew 10:37 · a strong link

Mark 12:33

And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

from Matthew 22:37 · a strong link

Hosea 6:6

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

from Mark 12:33 · a strong link

I Chronicles 28:9

And you, Solomon my son, know you the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off for ever.

from Hosea 6:6

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 26:31 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