The Vigil

from Matthew 5:48

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 5:48

Be therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Luke 6:40

The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

from Matthew 5:48

John 13:16

Truly, truly, I say to you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

from Luke 6:40 · a strong link

John 3:5

Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

from John 13:16


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.

Leviticus 21:6

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 10:3

Leviticus 3:11

And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to the LORD.

from Leviticus 21:6 · a strong link

Malachi 1:7

You offer polluted bread upon my altar; and you say, How have we polluted you? In that you say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

from Leviticus 3:11

I Corinthians 10:21

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons: you cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of demons.

from Malachi 1:7

Isaiah 65:11

But you are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering to that number.

from I Corinthians 10:21

Isaiah 1:28

And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

from Isaiah 65:11


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

Hebrews 9:12

Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

from I Peter 1:19

Galatians 3:13

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree:

from Hebrews 9:12

I Peter 1:18

Since you know that you were not redeemed with perishable things, as silver and gold, from your futile ways received by tradition from your fathers;

from Galatians 3:13


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

James 5:4

Look, the hire of the laborers who have harvested your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.

from Genesis 18:20


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Revelation of John 5:13

And every creature in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be to him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever.

from Luke 2:14

Isaiah 45:23

I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

from Philippians 2:10 · 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?

Revelation of John 19:2

For true and righteous are his judgments: for he has judged the great prostitute, which did corrupt the earth with her sexual immorality, and has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

from Revelation of John 6:10 · a strong link

Psalms 119:142

Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is the truth.

from Psalms 19:9 · a strong link


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.

Revelation of John 12:11

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.

from Luke 14:26 · a strong link

I John 2:13

I write to you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.

from Revelation of John 12:11

I John 1:1

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

from I John 2:13

I John 4:14

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

from I John 1:1 · a strong link

I John 4:10

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

from I John 4:14

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 5:48 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