The Vigil

from Matthew 26:4

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 26:4

And consulted that they might take Jesus by deceit, and kill him.

Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Yes, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

from Matthew 26:4

Matthew 8:29

And indeed, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God? have you come here to torment us before the time?

from Revelation of John 20:2


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 14:4

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.

from Leviticus 10:3

Exodus 7:5

And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

from Exodus 14:4 · a strong link

Exodus 8:22

And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

from Exodus 7:5 · a strong link

Exodus 8:10

And he said, Tomorrow. And he said, Be it according to your word: that you may know that there is none like to the LORD our God.

from Exodus 8:22

Psalms 48:1

A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

from Jeremiah 10:6 · 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 5:27

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

from Jude 1:24 · a strong link

Song of Solomon 4:1

Look, you are fair, my love; look, you are fair; you have doves’ eyes within your locks: your hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.

from Song of Solomon 5:12 · a strong link


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 19:13

For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is grown great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.

from Genesis 18:20


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

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives, give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

from Romans 5:1 · a strong link

Psalms 27:1

A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

from John 14:27 · a strong link


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

Deuteronomy 32:35

To me belongs vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link

Hebrews 10:30

For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense, says the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

from Deuteronomy 32:35 · a strong link

Romans 12:19

Beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.

from Hebrews 10:30 · a strong link

I Thessalonians 4:6

That no man wrong or take advantage of his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.

from Romans 12:19

Ephesians 4:28

Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, so that he may have to give to him that needs.

from I Thessalonians 4:6


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

Acts 9:15

But the Lord said to him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

from Acts 20:24

Romans 11:13

For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office:

from Acts 9:15

Romans 15:16

That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, so that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

from Romans 11:13

Isaiah 66:19

And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles in the distance, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.

from Romans 15:16

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 26:4 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