The Vigil

from Matthew 26:36

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 26:36

Then comes Jesus with them to a place called Gethsemane, and says to the disciples, Sit you here, while I go and pray yonder.

Matthew 26:39

And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as you will.

from Matthew 26:36

Genesis 17:17

Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

from Genesis 17:3


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.

Exodus 19:22

And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.

from Leviticus 10:3

Exodus 24:5

And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.

from Exodus 19:22

Exodus 18:12

And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

from Exodus 24:5

Deuteronomy 12:7

And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.

from Exodus 18:12

Deuteronomy 26:11

And you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the stranger among you.

from Deuteronomy 12:7


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,

II Timothy 4:18

And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

from Jude 1:24

Genesis 48:16

The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

from II Timothy 4:18

Isaiah 63:9

In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them, and carried them all the days of old.

from Genesis 48:16

Deuteronomy 7:7

The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all people:

from Isaiah 63:9

Romans 11:6

And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it is of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

from Deuteronomy 7:7


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

Exodus 23:19

The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk.

from Numbers 18:12

Deuteronomy 14:21

You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you shall give it to the stranger in your gates, so that he may eat it; or you may sell it to an alien: for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk.

from Exodus 23:19 · a strong link


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Luke 2:14

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

Psalms 96:11

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and its fullness.

from Luke 2:14

Isaiah 49:13

Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

from Psalms 96:11

Isaiah 51:3

For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

from Isaiah 49:13


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?

Isaiah 34:5

For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: look, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

from Psalms 7:12

Ezekiel 21:3

And say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD; Look, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.

from Isaiah 34:5

Ezekiel 21:19

Also, you son of man, appoint you two ways, so that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both two shall come forth out of one land: and choose you a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

from Ezekiel 21:3


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.

Acts 20:24

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

from Luke 14:26 · a strong link

I Peter 5:12

By Silvanus, a faithful brother to you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.

from Acts 20:24

I Corinthians 15:1

Moreover, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and in which you stand;

from I Peter 5:12 · a strong link

Romans 5:2

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

from I Corinthians 15:1

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 26:36 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