Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Genesis 20 / Basic English

1. And Abraham went on his way from there to the land of the South, and was living between Kadesh and Shur, in Gerar.
2. And Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah.
3. But God came to Abimelech in a dream in the night, and said to him, Truly you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man's wife.
4. Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, Lord, will you put to death an upright nation?
5. Did he not say to me himself, She is my sister? and she herself said, He is my brother: with an upright heart and clean hands have I done this.
6. And God said to him in the dream, I see that you have done this with an upright heart, and I have kept you from sinning against me: for this reason I did not let you come near her.
7. So now, give the man back his wife, for he is a prophet, and let him say a prayer for you, so your life may be safe: but if you do not give her back, be certain that death will come to you and all your house.
8. So Abimelech got up early in the morning and sent for all his servants and gave them word of these things, and they were full of fear.
9. Then Abimelech sent for Abraham, and said, What have you done to us? what wrong have I done you that you have put on me and on my kingdom so great a sin? You have done to me things which are not to be done.
10. And Abimelech said to Abraham, Why did you do this thing?
11. And Abraham said, Because it seemed to me that there was no fear of God in this place, and that they might put me to death because of my wife.
12. And, in fact, she is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife:
13. And when God sent me wandering from my father's house, I said to her, Let this be the sign of your love for me; wherever we go, say of me, He is my brother.
14. Then Abimelech gave to Abraham sheep and oxen and men-servants and women-servants, and gave him back his wife Sarah.
15. And Abimelech said, See, all my land is before you; take whatever place seems good to you.
16. And he said to Sarah, See, I have given to your brother a thousand bits of silver so that your wrong may be put right; now your honour is clear in the eyes of all.
17. Then Abraham made prayer to God, and God made Abimelech well again, and his wife and his women-servants, so that they had children.
18. For the Lord had kept all the women of the house of Abimelech from having children, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

Genesis 21 / Basic English

1. And the Lord came to Sarah as he had said and did to her as he had undertaken.
2. And Sarah became with child, and gave Abraham a son when he was old, at the time named by God.
3. And Abraham gave to his son, to whom Sarah had given birth, the name Isaac.
4. And when his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham made him undergo circumcision, as God had said to him.
5. Now Abraham was a hundred years old when the birth of Isaac took place.
6. And Sarah said, God has given me cause for laughing, and everyone who has news of it will be laughing with me.
7. And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would have a child at her breast? for see, I have given him a son now when he is old.
8. And when the child was old enough to be taken from the breast, Abraham made a great feast.
9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian playing with Isaac.
10. So she said to Abraham, Send away that woman and her son: for the son of that woman is not to have a part in the heritage with my son Isaac.
11. And this was a great grief to Abraham because of his son.
12. But God said, Let it not be a grief to you because of the boy and Hagar his mother; give ear to whatever Sarah says to you, because it is from Isaac that your seed will take its name.
13. And I will make a nation of the son of your servant-woman, because he is your seed.
14. And early in the morning Abraham got up, and gave Hagar some bread and a water-skin, and put the boy on her back, and sent her away: and she went, wandering in the waste land of Beer-sheba.
15. And when all the water in the skin was used up, she put the child down under a tree.
16. And she went some distance away, about an arrow flight, and seating herself on the earth, she gave way to bitter weeping, saying, Let me not see the death of my child.
17. And the boy's cry came to the ears of God; and the angel of God said to Hagar from heaven, Hagar, why are you weeping? have no fear, for the child's cry has come to the ears of God.
18. Come, take your child in your arms, for I will make of him a great nation.
19. Then God made her eyes open, and she saw a water-spring, and she got water in the skin and gave the boy a drink.
20. And God was with the boy, and he became tall and strong, and he became a bowman, living in the waste land.
21. And while he was in the waste land of Paran, his mother got him a wife from the land of Egypt.
22. Now at that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the captain of his army, said to Abraham, I see that God is with you in all you do.
23. Now, then, give me your oath, in the name of God, that you will not be false to me or to my sons after me, but that as I have been good to you, so you will be to me and to this land where you have been living.
24. And Abraham said, I will give you my oath.
25. But Abraham made a protest to Abimelech because of a water-hole which Abimelech's servants had taken by force.
26. But Abimelech said, I have no idea who has done this thing; you never gave me word of it, and I had no knowledge of it till this day.
27. And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made an agreement together.
28. And Abraham put seven young lambs of the flock on one side by themselves.
29. Then Abimelech said, What are these seven lambs which you have put on one side?
30. And he said, Take these seven lambs from me as a witness that I have made this water-hole.
31. So he gave that place the name Beer-sheba, because there the two of them had given their oaths.
32. So they made an agreement at Beer-sheba, and Abimelech and Phicol, the captain of his army, went back to the land of the Philistines.
33. And Abraham, after planting a holy tree in Beer-sheba, gave worship to the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.
34. And Abraham went on living in the land of the Philistines as in a strange country.

Matthew 11 / Basic English

1. And it came about that when Jesus had come to the end of giving these orders to his twelve disciples, he went away from there, teaching and preaching in their towns.
2. Now when John had news in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples
3. To say to him, Are you he who is to come, or are we waiting for another?
4. And Jesus, answering, said to them, Go and give news to John of the things which you are seeing and hearing:
5. The blind see; those who were not able to, are walking; lepers are made clean; those who were without hearing, now have their ears open; the dead come to life again, and the poor have the good news given to them.
6. And a blessing will be on him who has no doubts about me.
7. And when they were going away, Jesus, talking of John, said to all the people, What went you out into the waste land to see? a tall stem moving in the wind?
8. But what went you out to see? a man delicately clothed? Those who have fair robes are in kings' houses.
9. But why did you go out? to see a prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.
10. This is he of whom it has been said, See, I send my servant before your face, who will make ready your way before you.
11. Truly I say to you, Among the sons of women there has not been a greater than John the Baptist: but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12. And from the days of John the Baptist till now, the kingdom of heaven is forcing its way in, and men of force take it.
13. For all the prophets and the law were in force till John.
14. And if you are able to see it, this is Elijah who was to come.
15. He who has ears, let him give ear.
16. But what comparison may I make of this generation? It is like children seated in the market-places, crying out to one another,
17. We made music for you and you did not take part in the dance; we gave cries of sorrow and you made no signs of grief.
18. For John came, taking no food or drink, and they say, He has an evil spirit.
19. The Son of man has come feasting, and they say, See, a lover of food and wine, a friend of tax-farmers and sinners! And wisdom is judged to be right by her works.
20. Then he went on to say hard things to the towns where most of his works of power were done, because they had not been turned from their sins.
21. Unhappy are you, Chorazin! Unhappy are you, Beth-saida! For if the works of power which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have been turned from their sins in days gone by, clothing themselves in haircloth and putting dust on their heads.
22. But I say to you, It will be better for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judging, than for you.
23. And you, Capernaum, were you not to be lifted up to heaven? you will go down into hell: for if the works of power which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been here to this day.
24. But I say to you that it will be better for the land of Sodom in the day of judging, than for you.
25. At that time Jesus made answer and said, I give praise to you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have kept these things secret from the wise and the men of learning, and have made them clear to little children.
26. Yes, Father, for so it was pleasing in your eyes.
27. All things have been given to me by my Father; and no one has knowledge of the Son, but the Father; and no one has knowledge of the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will make it clear.
28. Come to me, all you who are troubled and weighted down with care, and I will give you rest.
29. Take my yoke on you and become like me, for I am gentle and without pride, and you will have rest for your souls;
30. For my yoke is good, and the weight I take up is not hard.