a thread opens
And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Why do you think evil in your hearts?
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.
Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest.
from Matthew 9:4
Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
from Luke 9:46
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come to him, saying, Master, we would that you should do for us whatever we shall desire.
from Matthew 20:20
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.
Speak to Aaron, saying, Whoever he be of your seed in their generations that has any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
from Leviticus 10:3
Blessed is the man whom you choose, and cause to approach to you, so that he may dwell in your courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, even of your holy temple.
from Leviticus 21:17
Blessed are they that dwell in your house: they will be still praising you. Selah.
from Psalms 65:4 · a strong link
Why are you cast down, O my soul? and why are you disquieted within me? hope you in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
from Psalms 84:4
Why are you cast down, O my soul? and why are you disquieted in me? hope you in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
from Psalms 42:11 · a strong link
But I will hope continually, and will yet praise you more and more.
from Psalms 42:5
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,
Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
from Jude 1:24
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world to our glory:
from Romans 16:25 · a strong link
Whereby, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
from I Corinthians 2:7
Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
from Ephesians 3:4 · a strong link
For an overseer must be blameless, as the steward of God; not arrogant, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain;
from I Corinthians 4:1
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.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
from Jude 1:11
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
from Revelation of John 2:14 · a strong link
And now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
from Joshua 24:9
O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Acacia to Gilgal; that you may know the righteousness of the LORD.
from Judges 11:25
a thread opens
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
from Luke 2:14 · a strong link
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
from Colossians 1:20
For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regards not persons, nor takes reward:
from Isaiah 9:6
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?
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
from Luke 18:7
And they shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you.
from Jeremiah 20:11 · a strong link
And it happened, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,
from Jeremiah 1:19
Then Pharaoh’s army had come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.
from Jeremiah 37:11
Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall you say to the king of Judah, that sent you to me to inquire of me; Look, Pharaoh’s army, which has come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.
from Jeremiah 37:5
But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, As for the words which you have heard;
from Jeremiah 37:7
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.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
from Luke 14:26 · a strong link
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
from Acts 20:24
For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
from II Timothy 4:6 · a strong link
If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.
from Philippians 1:23
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
from John 12:26
That is the whole thread.
Every verse the cross-references reach from Matthew 9:4 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