Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Deuteronomy 33 / Basic English

1. Now this is the blessing which Moses, the man of God, gave to the children of Israel before his death.
2. He said, The Lord came from Sinai, dawning on them from Seir; shining out from Mount Paran, coming from Meribath Kadesh: from his right hand went flames of fire: his wrath made waste the peoples.
3. All his holy ones are at his hand; they go at his feet; they are lifted up on his wings.
4. Moses gave us a law, a heritage for the people of Jacob.
5. And there was a king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel came together.
6. Let life not death be Reuben's, let not the number of his men be small.
7. And this is the blessing of Judah: he said, Give ear, O Lord, to the voice of Judah and make him one with his people: let your hands take up his cause, and be his help against his attackers.
8. And of Levi he said, Give your Thummim to Levi and let the Urim be with your loved one, whom you put to the test at Massah, with whom you were angry at the waters of Meribah;
9. Who said of his father, Who is he? and of his mother, I have not seen her; he kept himself separate from his brothers and had no knowledge of his children: for they have given ear to your word and kept your agreement.
10. They will be the teachers of your decisions to Jacob and of your law to Israel: the burning of perfumes before you will be their right, and the ordering of burned offerings on your altar.
11. Let your blessing, O Lord, be on his substance, may the work of his hands be pleasing to you: may those who take up arms against him and all who have hate for him, be wounded through the heart, never to be lifted up again.
12. And of Benjamin he said, Benjamin is the loved one of the Lord, he will be kept safe at all times; he will be covered by the Most High, resting between his arms.
13. And of Joseph he said, Let the blessing of the Lord be on his land; for the good things of heaven on high, and the deep waters flowing under the earth,
14. And the good things of the fruits of the sun, and the good things of the growth of the moons,
15. And the chief things of the oldest mountains, and the good things of the eternal hills,
16. The good things of the earth and all its wealth, the good pleasure of him who was seen in the burning tree: may they come on the head of Joseph, on the head of him who was prince among his brothers.
17. He is a young ox, glory is his; his horns are the horns of the mountain ox, with which all peoples will be wounded, even to the ends of the earth: they are the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh.
18. And of Zebulun he said, Be glad, Zebulun, in your going out; and, Issachar, in your tents.
19. They will send out the word for the people to come to the mountain, taking there the offerings of righteousness: for the store of the seas will be theirs, and the secret wealth of the sand.
20. Of Gad he said, A blessing be on him who makes wide the limits of Gad: he takes his rest like a she-lion, taking for himself the arm and the crown of the head.
21. He kept for himself the first part, for his was the ruler's right: he put in force the righteousness of the Lord, and his decisions for Israel.
22. And of Dan he said, Dan is a young lion, springing out from Bashan.
23. And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, made glad with grace and full of the blessing of the Lord: the sea and its fishes will be his.
24. And of Asher he said, Let Asher have the blessing of children; may he be pleasing to his brothers, and let his foot be wet with oil.
25. Your shoes will be iron and brass; and as your days, so may your work be.
26. No other is like the God of Jeshurun, coming on the heavens to your help, and letting his glory be seen in the skies.
27. The God of your fathers is your safe resting-place, and under you are his eternal arms: driving out the forces of your haters from before you, he said, Let destruction overtake them.
28. And Israel is living in peace, the fountain of Jacob by himself, in a land of grain and wine, with dew dropping from the heavens.
29. Happy are you, O Israel: who is like you, a people whose saviour is the Lord, whose help is your cover, whose sword is your strength! All those who are against you will put themselves under your rule, and your feet will be planted on their high places.

Deuteronomy 34 / Basic English

1. And Moses went up from the table-lands of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah which is facing Jericho. And the Lord let him see all the land, the land of Gilead as far as Dan;
2. And all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, as far as the Great Sea of the west;
3. And the South, and the circle of the valley of Jericho, the town of palm-trees, as far as Zoar.
4. And the Lord said to him, This is the land about which I made an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I will give it to your seed: now I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not go in there.
5. So death came to Moses, the servant of the Lord, there in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said.
6. And the Lord put him to rest in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor: but no man has knowledge of his resting-place to this day.
7. And Moses at his death was a hundred and twenty years old: his eye had not become clouded, or his natural force become feeble.
8. For thirty days the children of Israel were weeping for Moses in the table-lands of Moab, till the days of weeping and sorrow for Moses were ended.
9. And Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had put his hands on him: and the children of Israel gave ear to him, and did as the Lord had given orders to Moses.
10. There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord had knowledge of face to face;
11. In all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and all his land;
12. And in all the acts of power and fear which Moses did before the eyes of all Israel.

Luke 3 / Basic English

1. Now in the fifteenth year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being ruler of Judaea, and Herod being king of Galilee, his brother Philip king of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias king of Abilene,
2. When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the waste land.
3. And he came into all the country round about Jordan, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed.
4. As it says in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight.
5. Every valley will be lifted up, and all the mountains and hills made low, and the twisted will be made straight, and the rough ways smooth;
6. And all flesh will see the salvation of God.
7. So he said to the people who went out to him for baptism: You offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come?
8. Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father: for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham.
9. And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; and every tree which does not have good fruit will be cut down and put into the fire.
10. And the people put questions to him, saying, What have we to do?
11. And he made answer and said to them, He who has two coats, let him give to him who has not even one; and he who has food, let him do the same.
12. Then tax-farmers came to him for baptism and said to him, Master, what have we to do?
13. And he said to them, Do not make an attempt to get more money than the right amount.
14. And men of the army put questions to him, saying, And what have we to do? And he said to them, Do no violent acts to any man, and do not take anything without right, and let your payment be enough for you.
15. And while the people were waiting, and all men were questioning in their hearts about John, if he was the Christ or not,
16. John made answer, saying to them all, Truly, I give you baptism with water, but one is coming who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:
17. In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned in the fire which will never be put out.
18. And so comforting them with these and other words, he gave the good news to the people;
19. But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and other evil things which Herod had done,
20. Did this most evil thing of all, and had John shut up in prison.
21. Now it came about that when all the people had been given baptism, Jesus, having had baptism with them, was in prayer, when, the heaven being open,
22. The Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove, and a voice came from heaven, saying, You are my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
23. And Jesus at this time was about thirty years old, being the son (as it seemed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
24. The son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
25. The son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,
26. The son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda,
27. The son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,
28. The son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,
29. The son of Jesus, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
30. The son of Symeon, the son of Judas, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,
31. The son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
32. The son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,
33. The son of Amminadab, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,
34. The son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
35. The son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,
36. The son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
37. The son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,
38. The son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.