The Vigil

from Matthew 5:16

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 5:16

Let your light so shine before men, so that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.

I Peter 4:11

If any man speak, let him speak as the utterances of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God gives: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

from Matthew 5:16

James 1:19

Therefore, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

from I Peter 4:11

Proverbs 17:27

He that has knowledge spares his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

from James 1:19 · 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.

Job 2:10

But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

from Psalms 39:9 · a strong link

Acts 1:14

These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

from Romans 12:12

Luke 8:2

And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and weaknesses, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven demons,

from Acts 1:14

Mark 15:40

There were also women looking on in the distance: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;

from Luke 8:2


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 1:15 · 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.

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

Ezekiel 16:14

And your renown went forth among the pagans for your beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon you, says the Lord GOD.

from Numbers 16:2


a thread opens

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?

Matthew 5:12

Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so they persecuted the prophets before you.

from Hebrews 10:35

Luke 6:23

Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy: for, look, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers to the prophets.

from Matthew 5:12 · a strong link

Revelation of John 2:7

He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; To him that overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

from Luke 6:23

I John 3:23

And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

from Revelation of John 2:26


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.

Psalms 73:25

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

Philippians 3:8

Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as rubbish, so that I may win Christ,

from Psalms 73:25 · a strong link

Romans 11:17

And if some of the branches be broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

from Hebrews 3:14

Acts 2:39

For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are in the distance, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

from Romans 11:17

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 5:16 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