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In order to see how the Thompson Chain-Reference System works, begin with Psalm 23. 

This nine-word verse includes three main thoughts or topics:

• “The Lord is my shepherd” = we are God’s sheep (3266)

• “The Lord is my shepherd” = Christ is our shepherd (3264)

• “I shall not want” = the Lord provides for our needs (2905)

To the left of the verse, you will see a group of topics and verse references in the margin. Locate the one that shows 3266 God’s Sheep, 74:1. 3266 is the Thompson Pilot Number for the topic of God’s sheep.

If you turn to the numerical index in the back of the Bible and look up 3266, you will see all the verses related to the topic of God’s Sheep. 

Now turn back to Psalm 23. The number at the end of the reference, 74:1, is called a Thompson Forward Reference. It points you toward the next verse for your topic – in this case, Psalm 74:1. If you turn to Psalm 74:1, you can search the references in the margin to find the next corresponding reference: 3266 God’s Sheep 79:13. You’ll notice that the Pilot Number didn’t change, but the Forward Reference now points you to the next verse: Psalm 79:13. 

If you turn to Psalm 79:13, you will find the next corresponding reference on the right side, prompting you to visit Mt. 10:16 (Matthew 10:16).

If you follow the entire chain for 3266 God’s Sheep, you will end at John 10:3. This time, there is no Forward Reference, as you have come to the end of the chain of references for this topic.

If you already know the topic that you’d like to study, you can easily discover where to start that process. There may be numerous verses on your topic, and you can use the alphabetical index in the back of the Bible to find the corresponding Pilot Number and a starting point. 

Say that you wanted to do a study on the topic of “Grace.” Once you find the Pilot Number for Grace, you can look that up in the numerical index and find all the related verses, choosing whichever verse you would like to start your chain from.