The Vigil

from Matthew 26:38

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 26:38

Then he says to them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even to death: stay you here, and watch with me.

John 12:27

Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I to this hour.

from Matthew 26:38

Luke 22:53

When I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

from John 12:27

Acts 26:18

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in me.

from Luke 22:53


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 3:11

And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to the LORD.

from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link

Numbers 28:2

Command the children of Israel, and say to them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a pleasing aroma to me, shall you observe to offer to me in their due season.

from Leviticus 3:11

Genesis 8:21

And the LORD smelled a pleasing aroma; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again strike any more everything living, as I have done.

from Numbers 28:2

John 3:6

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

from Genesis 8:21

Job 25:4

How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?

from John 3:6


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,

Zephaniah 3:13

The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

from Revelation of John 14:5 · a strong link

Jeremiah 31:33

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

from Zephaniah 3:13

Psalms 112:1

Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man that fears the LORD, that delights greatly in his commandments.

from Psalms 40:8


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

Exodus 22:29

You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe fruits, and of your liquors: the firstborn of your sons shall you give to me.

from Deuteronomy 18:4


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

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

Luke 19:38

Saying, Blessed be the King that comes in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

from Luke 2:14 · a strong link

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: look, your King comes to you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt the foal of a donkey.

from Luke 19:38


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?

I Timothy 5:5

Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.

from Luke 18:7

I Corinthians 7:32

But I would have you without anxiety. He that is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:

from I Timothy 5:5

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

from I Corinthians 7:32

Proverbs 15:8

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

from Philippians 4:6 · a strong link

Isaiah 61:8

For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

from Proverbs 15:8 · a strong link

Genesis 17:7

And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you, and to your seed after you.

from Isaiah 61:8


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

John 21:15

So when they had dined, Jesus says to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, love you me more than these? He says to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He says to him, Feed my lambs.

from Matthew 10:37

Hebrews 4:13

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

from John 21:15

Jeremiah 23:24

Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the LORD.

from Psalms 139:11

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 26:38 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