Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Joshua 1 / Basic English

1. Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the word of the Lord came to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' helper, saying,
2. Moses my servant is dead; so now get up! Go over Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.
3. Every place on which you put your foot I have given to you, as I said to Moses.
4. From the waste land and this mountain Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, and all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea, in the west, will be your country.
5. While you are living, all will give way before you: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not take away my help from you or give you up.
6. Take heart and be strong; for you will give to this people for their heritage the land which I gave by an oath to their fathers.
7. Only take heart and be very strong; take care to do all the law which Moses my servant gave you, not turning from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may do well in all your undertakings.
8. Let this book of the law be ever on your lips and in your thoughts day and night, so that you may keep with care everything in it; then a blessing will be on all your way, and you will do well.
9. Have I not given you your orders? Take heart and be strong; have no fear and do not be troubled; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go,
10. Then Joshua gave their orders to those who were in authority over the people, saying,
11. Go through the tents and give orders to the people, saying, Get ready a store of food; for in three days you are to go over this river Jordan and take for your heritage the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
12. And to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said,
13. Keep in mind what Moses, the servant of the Lord, said to you, The Lord your God is sending you rest and will give you this land.
14. Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle will be kept here in the land which Moses gave you on this side of Jordan; but you, the fighting-men, are to go over before your brothers, armed, to give them help;
15. Till the Lord has given your brothers rest, as he has given it to you, and they have taken their heritage in the land which the Lord your God is giving them: then you will go back to the land of your heritage which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you on the east side of Jordan.
16. Then they said to Joshua in answer, Whatever you say to us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.
17. As we gave attention to Moses in all things, so we will give attention to you: and may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses.
18. Whoever goes against your orders, and does not give attention to all your words, will be put to death: only take heart and be strong.

Joshua 2 / Basic English

1. Then Joshua, the son of Nun, sent two men from Shittim secretly, with the purpose of searching out the land, and Jericho. So they went and came to the house of a loose woman of the town, named Rahab, where they took their rest for the night.
2. And it was said to the king of Jericho, See, some men have come here tonight from the children of Israel with the purpose of searching out the land.
3. Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Send out the men who have come to you and are in your house; for they have come with the purpose of searching out all the land.
4. And the woman took the two men and put them in a secret place; then she said, Yes, the men came to me, but I had no idea where they came from;
5. And when it was the time for shutting the doors at dark, they went out; I have no idea where the men went: but if you go after them quickly, you will overtake them.
6. But she had taken them up to the roof, covering them with the stems of flax which she had put out in order there.
7. So the men went after them on the road to Jordan as far as the river-crossing: and when they had gone out after them, the door into the town was shut.
8. And before the men went to rest, she came up to them on the roof,
9. And said to them, It is clear to me that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has come on us;
10. For we have had news of how the Lord made the Red Sea dry before you when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, on the other side of Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you gave up to the curse.
11. And because of this news, our hearts became like water, and there was no more spirit in any of us because of you; for the Lord your God is God in heaven on high and here on earth.
12. So now, will you give me your oath by the Lord, that, because I have been kind to you, you will be kind to my father's house,
13. And that you will keep safe my father and mother and my brothers and sisters and all they have, so that death may not come on us?
14. And the men said to her, Our life for yours if you keep our business secret; and when the Lord has given us the land, we will keep faith and be kind to you.
15. Then she let them down from the window by a cord, for the house where she was living was on the town wall.
16. And she said to them, Get away into the hill-country, or the men who have gone after you will overtake you; keep yourselves safe there for three days, till the searchers have come back, and then go on your way.
17. And the men said to her, We will only be responsible for this oath which you have made us take,
18. If, when we come into the land, you put this cord of bright red thread in the window from which you let us down; and get your father and mother and your brothers and all your family into the house;
19. Then if anyone goes out of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, we will not be responsible; but if any damage comes to anyone in the house, his blood will be on our heads.
20. But if you say anything about our business here, then we will be free from the oath you have made us take.
21. And she said, Let it be as you say. Then she sent them away, and they went; and she put the bright red cord in the window.
22. And they went into the hill-country and were there three days, till the men who had gone after them had come back; and those who went after them were searching for them everywhere without coming across them.
23. Then the two men came down from the hill-country and went over and came back to Joshua, the son of Nun; and they gave him a complete account of what had taken place.
24. And they said to Joshua, Truly, the Lord has given all the land into our hands; and all the people of the land have become like water because of us.

Luke 4 / Basic English

1. And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, came back from the Jordan, and was guided by the Spirit in the waste land
2. For forty days, being tested by the Evil One. And he had no food in those days; and when they came to an end, he was in need of food.
3. And the Evil One said to him, If you are the Son of God, give orders to this stone to become bread.
4. And Jesus made answer to him, It has been said in the Writings, Bread is not man's only need.
5. And he took him up and let him see all the kingdoms of the earth in a minute of time.
6. And the Evil One said, I will give you authority over all these, and the glory of them, for it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone at my pleasure.
7. If then you will give worship to me, it will all be yours.
8. And Jesus in answer said to him, It has been said in the Writings, Give worship to the Lord your God, and be his servant only.
9. And he took him to Jerusalem and put him on the highest point of the Temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, let yourself go down from here; for it is said in the Writings,
10. He will give his angels orders to take care of you:
11. And, In their hands they will keep you up, so that your foot may not be crushed against a stone.
12. And Jesus made answer and said to him, It is said in the Writings, You may not put the Lord your God to the test.
13. And when all these tests were ended the Evil One went away from him for a time.
14. And Jesus came back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news of him went through all the country round about.
15. And he was teaching in their Synagogues and all men gave him praise.
16. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been as a child, and he went, as his way was, into the Synagogue on the Sabbath, and got up to give a reading.
17. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and, opening the book, he came on the place where it is said,
18. The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,
19. To give knowledge that the year of the Lord's good pleasure is come.
20. And shutting the book he gave it back to the servant and took his seat: and the eyes of all in the Synagogue were fixed on him.
21. Then he said to them, Today this word has come true in your hearing.
22. And they were all giving witness, with wonder, to the words of grace which came from his mouth: and they said, Is not this the son of Joseph?
23. And he said to them, Without doubt you will say to me, Let the medical man make himself well: the things which to our knowledge were done at Capernaum, do them here in your country.
24. And he said to them, Truly I say to you, No prophet is honoured in his country.
25. Truly I say to you, There were a number of widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months and there was no food in the land;
26. But Elijah was not sent to one of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
27. And there were a number of lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and not one of them was made clean, but only Naaman the Syrian.
28. And all who were in the Synagogue were very angry when these things were said to them.
29. And they got up and took him out of the town to the edge of the mountain on which their town was, so that they might send him down to his death.
30. But he came through them and went on his way.
31. And he came down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee; and he was giving them teaching on the Sabbath.
32. And they were surprised at his teaching, for his word was with authority.
33. And there was a man in the Synagogue who had an unclean spirit; and he gave a loud cry and said,
34. Let us be! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? have you come to put an end to us? I have knowledge who you are, the Holy One of God.
35. And Jesus said to him, Be quiet, and come out of him. And when the evil spirit had put him down on the earth in the middle of them, he came out of him, having done him no damage.
36. And wonder came on them all and they said to one another, What are these words? for with authority and power he gives orders to the evil spirits and they come out.
37. And there was much talk about him in all the places round about.
38. And he got up and went out of the Synagogue and went into the house of Simon. And Simon's wife's mother was very ill with a burning heat; and in answer to their prayers for her
39. He went near her, and with a sharp word he gave orders to the disease and it went away from her; and straight away she got up and took care of their needs.
40. And at sundown all those who had anyone ill with any sort of disease, took them to him, and he put his hands on every one of them and made them well.
41. And evil spirits came out of a number of them, crying out and saying, You are the Son of God. But he gave them sharp orders not to say a word, because they had knowledge that he was the Christ.
42. And when it was day, he came out and went to a waste place; and great numbers of people came looking for him, and they came to him and would have kept him from going away.
43. But he said to them, I have to give the good news of the kingdom of God in other towns, because that is why I was sent.
44. And he was teaching in the Synagogues of Galilee.