1. How grand and high, with hugest bulk, arise Those southern hills whose summits touch the skies! Down from them came a spirit to the earth, And to the sires of Fu and Shen gave birth. In those two states our Chou a bulwark has, O'er which the southern foemen dare not pass; And all its states they screen, and through them spread Lessons of virtue, by themselves displayed.

2. Famed for his merit was Shen's present chief. The king with Hsieh planned to enlarge his fief. There, as his sires elsewhere had been, should he To all the southern states a pattern be. The earl of Chao got charge there to provide The capital, where Shen's chief should preside, And o'er the south a powerful influence gain. There too his sons that influence should maintain.

3. Thus to the chief the king gave his command:— "A pattern be to all the southern land. Your center Hsieh, go from it onwards, till Your merit all that southern sphere shall fill." Chao's earl was charged the new lands to define, And by Chou's rules fit revenue assign. The master of Shen's household orders got, To move betimes the harem to the spot.

4. The earl of Chao thus the foundation cleared, On which the chief's great merit should be reared. The city's walls he built, and then went on To build the temple. This work grandly done, The chief receives four steeds, a noble team, Whose breasthooks 'mid their trappings brightly gleam.

5. Those steeds were with a car of state well matched, And then the king from court the chief dispatched. "Your residence," he said, "has been my care. The south I chose. Quick thither now repair. And take this noble mace, which I confer, The symbol of your rank. Go, uncle, go; Protect the southern lands from every foe."

6. Soon now the chief his way took from the north. The king in Mei the parting feast set forth. Thence, through the capital and southward bound, The chief of Shen in Hsieh at last was found. When Chao's earl the country had defined, And by Chou's rules the revenue assigned, Stores of provisions had been laid aside, For the chief's rapid journey to provide.

7. Chariots and thronging footmen were arrayed; With martial pomp the chief his entrance made. The states of Chou rejoice. They haste to bring Their warm and joyous greetings to the king. "In your great uncle," thus they say, "you've found A bulwark strong. Grandly is Shen renowned! In peace and war a pattern good will he, Throughout our regions, to your chieftains be."

8. With virtue clad, the chief of Shen shines bright;— Though mild, not weak; though strong, yet ever right. Our myriad states his powerful sway shall own, And with their praises his grand merit crown. Chi-fu presents this song, well meant, well made;— Accept, O chief, the tribute I have paid!

About this reader

What is Scripture?

Scripture is a browser-based reader for sixteen sacred texts spanning multiple religious and literary traditions. It provides chapter-by-chapter navigation, full-text search across all works, word concordance with frequency analysis, verse-linked notes, text-to-speech, and deep linking to any chapter or verse.

Traditions Represented

The collection spans Abrahamic, East Asian, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, and Nordic traditions. Christian texts include the King James Version Old and New Testaments (1611) and Apocrypha. The Quran uses Marmaduke Pickthall's 1930 English translation. Latter-day Saint scripture includes the Book of Mormon (1830), Doctrine and Covenants (1835), and Pearl of Great Price (1851).

Confucian works include James Legge's translations of The Four Books (1893) and the Book of Poetry (1876). The Tao Te Ching uses Legge's 1891 translation. The Kojiki uses Basil Hall Chamberlain's 1919 English translation. Zoroastrian texts include the Bundahishn (E. W. West, 1880) and the Arda Viraf (Haug & West, 1872). The Lotus Sutra uses Hendrik Kern's 1884 translation. The Finnish Kalevala uses John Martin Crawford's 1888 translation, and the Norse Poetic Edda uses Henry Adams Bellows' 1923 translation.

Public Domain Translations

Every translation in this collection is in the public domain. The most recent translation dates to 1930 (Pickthall's Quran). All texts are freely available for reading, study, quotation, and redistribution with no copyright restrictions.

Concordance and Related Passages

The concordance indexes every word across all sixteen works, showing frequency and distribution. TF-IDF (term frequency-inverse document frequency) scoring identifies passages with similar vocabulary across different traditions, enabling comparative study without requiring prior knowledge of each text's structure. TF-IDF weights words that are frequent in one chapter but rare across the corpus, surfacing meaningful thematic connections rather than common function words.

Deep Linking

Every chapter and verse has a permanent URL. Chapter links follow the pattern /scripture/{work}/{book}-{chapter} (e.g., /scripture/ot/gen-1 for Genesis 1). Verse links append the verse number (e.g., /scripture/ot/gen-1:26 for Genesis 1:26). These URLs can be shared, bookmarked, or cited directly.

Accessibility

Scripture supports keyboard navigation throughout: Tab moves between controls, Enter activates verse actions, and arrow keys navigate chapters. The reading pane has a skip-to-content link. All overlays (search, concordance) are focus-trapped ARIA dialogs. Dynamic content regions use aria-live for screen reader announcements. High-contrast mode is available via the theme toggle. Verse numbers are visible to assistive technology. No flashing content or motion hazards.

Scripture is part of a suite of educational simulations at a9l.im. Explore particle physics with Geon, redistricting with Gerry, or cellular metabolism with Cyano.