1. With mass of gorgeous flowers The cherry trees are crowned, But none within this world of ours Like brothers can be found.

2. When awful death comes near, 'Tis brothers sympathize. When headlong flight fills plain and height, To brother brother flies.

3. See how the wagtail's head Quick answers to its tail! When hardships great befall our state, Friends, are of no avail. In times of urgent need, We brothers' help receive. Then friends, though good, of different blood, Long sighs will only heave.

4. Brothers indoors may fight; But insults from without Join them at once, and they unite The common foe to rout. In cases such as this, In vain to friends we turn. They may be true, but they'll eschew The danger they discern.

5. Deaths and disorder o'er, 'Mid peace and rest now cold, Some men, alas! their brothers pass, Nor them as friends will hold.

6. With dishes in array, The cup may oft go round; But only where brothers are there, The feast is truly found. 'Tis when they all appear, And each is in his place, That childlike joy, without alloy, Crowns harmony with grace.

7. Children and wife we love; Union with them is sweet As lute's soft strain that soothes our pain. How joyous do we meet! But brothers, more than they, Can satisfy the heart. 'Tis their accord does peace afford, And lasting joy impart.

8. For ordering of your homes, For joy with child and wife, Consider well the truth I tell;— This is the charm of life!

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.