The Losungen, or Daily Texts, began in 1728 as a watchword given out each day at Herrnhut and have been printed annually since 1731, which makes them the longest continuously published devotional book in the world. The method has not changed: Old Testament verses are drawn by lot from a pool of about 1,800 at the Herrnhut headquarters roughly three years ahead, then a New Testament text and a hymn or prayer are chosen to accompany each. They are published in more than fifty languages, and their readership — in Germany especially — is overwhelmingly Lutheran and Reformed rather than Moravian. The lot itself is important: it was used at Herrnhut for major decisions including marriages and mission assignments well into the nineteenth century, and its retreat to the Daily Texts alone is one of the clearest markers of the church's modernisation.