The Vigil

from Matthew 26:59

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 26:59

Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

Psalms 27:12

Deliver me not over to the will of my enemies: for false witnesses have risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

from Deuteronomy 19:16

Psalms 35:11

False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.

from Psalms 27:12 · 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.

Isaiah 42:1

Look, my servant, whom I uphold; my elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

from Isaiah 49:3

Matthew 17:5

While he yet spoke, look, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and look, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him.

from Isaiah 42:1 · a strong link

Deuteronomy 18:15

The LORD your God will raise up to you a Prophet from the midst of you, of your brothers, like to me; to him you shall listen;

from Matthew 17:5

John 1:45

Philip finds Nathanael, and says to him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

from Deuteronomy 18:15 · a strong link

Matthew 13:55

Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brothers, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

from John 1:45


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,

Hebrews 13:20

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

from Jude 1:24

I Peter 2:25

For you were as sheep going astray; but are now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

from Hebrews 13:20

Matthew 9:36

But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

from I Peter 2:25 · a strong link

Matthew 15:32

Then Jesus called his disciples to him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

from Matthew 9:36

I Samuel 14:28

Then answered one of the people, and said, Your father straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eats any food this day. And the people were faint.

from Matthew 15:32


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.

Numbers 26:9

And the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:

from Jude 1:11

Numbers 1:16

These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.

from Numbers 26:9 · a strong link

Numbers 16:2

And they rose up before Moses, with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:

from Numbers 1:16

I Chronicles 5:24

And these were the heads of the house of their fathers, even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valor, famous men, and heads of the house of their fathers.

from Numbers 16:2


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

Mark 11:9

And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord:

from Luke 19:38

Matthew 21:9

And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

from Mark 11:9


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

II Timothy 4:17

However the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link

Daniel 6:22

My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: since before him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done no hurt.

from II Timothy 4:17 · a strong link

Numbers 20:16

And when we cried to the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and has brought us forth out of Egypt: and indeed, we are in Kadesh, a city at the edge of your border:

from Daniel 6:22

Exodus 23:20

Look, I send an Angel before you, to keep you in the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

from Numbers 20:16

Joshua 5:13

And it happened, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and there stood a man opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went to him, and said to him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries?

from Exodus 23:20


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.

Deuteronomy 33:9

Who said to his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.

from Luke 14:26

Leviticus 10:6

And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither tear your clothes; lest you die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, mourn the burning which the LORD has kindled.

from Deuteronomy 33:9

Numbers 16:22

And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?

from Leviticus 10:6 · a strong link

Job 34:14

If he set his heart upon man, if he gather to himself his spirit and his breath;

from Job 12:10

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 26:59 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