a thread opens
For I say to you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
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 when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
from Matthew 5:20
He that trusts in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.
from Luke 18:24
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not arrogant, nor trust in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy;
from Proverbs 11:28
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.
And say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Look, I am against you, O Sidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of you: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
from Leviticus 10:3
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 Ezekiel 28:22
And in very deed for this cause have I raised you up, to show in you my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
from Exodus 14:4
And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: to which also they were appointed.
from Exodus 9:16
For certain people have crept in unnoticed, who were long ago designated for this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into sensuality, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
from I Peter 2:8
And this is life eternal, so that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
from Jude 1:4
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,
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
from Jude 1:24
I have manifested your name to the men which you gave me out of the world: yours they were, and you gave them me; and they have kept your word.
from John 10:29
And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
from John 17:6
And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
from Exodus 34:5 · a strong link
And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the LORD.
from Exodus 33:19
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 first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk.
from Numbers 18:12
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 Exodus 23:19
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
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and its fullness.
from Psalms 69:34 · a strong link
The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be its glad.
from Psalms 96:11
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?
A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the director of music upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you:
from Luke 18:7 · a strong link
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you hear not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
from Psalms 88:1 · a strong link
My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, Where is your God?
from Psalms 22:2
As with a sword in my bones, my enemies reproach me; while they say daily to me, Where is your God?
from Psalms 42:3
Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the portico and the altar, and let them say, Spare your people, O LORD, and give not your heritage to reproach, that the pagans should rule over them: why should they say among the people, Where is their God?
from Psalms 42:10
That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar.
from Joel 2:17
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.
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
Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
from Matthew 10:37 · a strong link
And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.
from Matthew 22:37 · a strong link
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 Deuteronomy 30:6 · a strong link
And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err in it.
from Jeremiah 32:39
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 5:20 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