The Vigil

from Matthew 6:20

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 6:20

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Revelation of John 2:9

I know your works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but you are rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

from Matthew 6:20


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.

Exodus 19:22

And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.

from Leviticus 10:3

Exodus 24:5

And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.

from Exodus 19:22

Exodus 18:12

And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

from Exodus 24:5

Genesis 31:54

Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brothers to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and stayed all night in the mount.

from Exodus 18:12

II Samuel 3:20

So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast.

from Genesis 31:54

Esther 1:3

In the third year of his reign, he made a feast to all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:

from II Samuel 3:20


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,

John 10:29

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

Exodus 18:11

Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing in which they dealt proudly he was above them.

from John 10:29

Nehemiah 9:10

And showed signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for you knew that they dealt proudly against them. So did you get you a name, as it is this day.

from Exodus 18:11

Exodus 5:2

And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

from Nehemiah 9:10

Job 21:15

What is the Almighty, so that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray to him?

from Exodus 5:2 · 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.

I John 3:12

Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why he slew him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

from Jude 1:11 · a strong link

Hebrews 11:4

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks.

from I John 3:12 · a strong link

Hebrews 12:24

And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.

from Hebrews 11:4 · a strong link

Hebrews 8:6

But now has he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

from Hebrews 12:24


a thread opens

Luke 2:14

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

Romans 5:1

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

from Luke 2:14

Isaiah 32:17

And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

from Romans 5:1 · a strong link

James 3:17

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

from Isaiah 32:17


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?

Hebrews 3:6

But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

from Hebrews 10:35 · a strong link

James 1:12

Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him.

from Revelation of John 3:11 · a strong link

I Peter 1:6

In which you greatly rejoice, though now for a while, if need be, you are in grief through manifold temptations:

from James 1:12 · 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.

John 12:25

He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.

from Luke 14:26 · a strong link

Luke 17:33

Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

from John 12:25 · a strong link

Matthew 16:25

For whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

from Luke 17:33

Mark 8:35

For whoever will save his life shall lose it; but whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

from Matthew 16:25

II Timothy 1:8

Do not therefore be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but share in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God;

from Mark 8:35

That is the whole thread.

Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 6:20 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