a thread opens
Then the devil takes him up into the holy city, and sets him on a pinnacle of the temple,
The Vigil
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.
And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here:
from Matthew 4:5
And the devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
from Luke 4:9
And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.
from Luke 4:3
a thread opens
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.
No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
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 21:21
And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link
Yes, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which you made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
from Leviticus 18:21
But you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which you made to yourselves.
from Acts 7:43
Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
from Amos 5:26
a thread opens
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,
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
from Jude 1:24
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and says of him, Look, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
from John 1:47
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
from Psalms 73:1
And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
from Psalms 51:10 · a strong link
a thread opens
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.
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
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
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
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest:
from Deuteronomy 18:4
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moves in it.
from Luke 2:14
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 69:34 · a strong link
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
And shall not God give justice to his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to repay with affliction those who afflict you;
from Luke 18:7
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
from II Thessalonians 1:6
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are your ways, you King of saints.
For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
from Revelation of John 15:3 · a strong link
There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who are you that judge another?
from Isaiah 33:22 · a strong link
And do not fear them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
from James 4:12 · a strong link
a thread opens
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.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
Because your loving devotion is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
from Psalms 73:25 · a strong link
For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
from Psalms 63:3
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
from Philippians 1:23
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
from Job 19:26
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 4:5 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