Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Joshua 5 / Basic English

1. Now when the news came to all the kings of the Amorites on the west side of Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites living by the sea, how the Lord had made the waters of Jordan dry before the children of Israel, till they had gone across, their hearts became like water, and there was no more spirit in them, because of the children of Israel.
2. At that time the Lord said to Joshua, Make yourself stone knives and give the children of Israel circumcision a second time.
3. So Joshua made stone knives and gave the children of Israel circumcision at Gibeath-ha-araloth.
4. And this is the reason why Joshua did so: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the fighting-men, had been overtaken by death in the waste land on the way, after they came out of Egypt.
5. All the people who came out had undergone circumcision; but all the people whose birth had taken place in the waste land on their journey from Egypt had not.
6. For the children of Israel were wandering in the waste land for forty years, till all the nation, that is, all the fighting-men, who had come out of Egypt, were dead, because they did not give ear to the voice of the Lord: to whom the Lord said, with an oath, that he would not let them see the land which the Lord had given his word to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
7. And their children, who came up in their place, now underwent circumcision by the hands of Joshua, not having had it before: for there had been no circumcision on the journey.
8. So when all the nation had undergone circumcision, they kept in their tents till they were well again.
9. And the Lord said to Joshua, Today the shame of Egypt has been rolled away from you. So that place was named Gilgal, to this day.
10. So the children of Israel put up their tents in Gilgal; and they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, in the lowlands of Jericho.
11. And on the day after the Passover, they had for their food the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and dry grain on the same day.
12. And there was no more manna from the day after they had for their food the produce of the land; the children of Israel had manna no longer, but that year the produce of the land of Canaan was their food.
13. Now when Joshua was near Jericho, lifting up his eyes he saw a man in front of him, with his sword uncovered in his hand: and Joshua went up to him and said, Are you for us or against us?
14. And he said, No; but I have come as captain of the armies of the Lord. Then Joshua, falling down with his face to the earth in worship, said, What has my lord to say to his servant?
15. And the captain of the Lord's army said to Joshua, Take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy. And Joshua did so.

Joshua 6 / Basic English

1. (Now Jericho was all shut up because of the children of Israel: there was no going out or coming in.)
2. And the Lord said to Joshua, See, I have given into your hands Jericho with its king and all its men of war.
3. Now let all your fighting-men make a circle round the town, going all round it once. Do this for six days.
4. And let seven priests go before the ark with seven loud-sounding horns in their hands: on the seventh day you are to go round the town seven times, the priests blowing their horns.
5. And at the sound of a long note on the horns, let all the people give a loud cry; and the wall of the town will come down flat, and all the people are to go straight forward.
6. Then Joshua, the son of Nun, sent for the priests and said to them, Take up the ark of the agreement, and let seven priests take seven horns in their hands and go before the ark of the Lord.
7. And he said to the people, Go forward, circling the town, and let the armed men go before the ark of the Lord.
8. So after Joshua had said this to the people, the seven priests with their seven horns went forward before the Lord, blowing on their horns: and the ark of the Lord's agreement went after them.
9. And the armed men went before the priests who were blowing the horns, and the mass of the people went after the ark, blowing their horns.
10. And to the people Joshua gave an order, saying, You will give no cry, and make no sound, and let no word go out of your mouth till the day when I say, Give a loud cry; then give a loud cry.
11. So he made the ark of the Lord go all round the town once: then they went back to the tents for the night.
12. And early in the morning Joshua got up, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.
13. And the seven priests with their seven horns went on before the ark of the Lord, blowing their horns: the armed men went before them, and the mass of the people went after the ark of the Lord, blowing their horns.
14. The second day they went all round the town once, and then went back to their tents: and so they did for six days.
15. Then on the seventh day they got up early, at the dawn of the day, and went round the town in the same way, but that day they went round it seven times.
16. And the seventh time, at the sound of the priests' horns, Joshua said to the people, Now give a loud cry; for the Lord has given you the town.
17. And the town will be put to the curse, and everything in it will be given to the Lord: only Rahab, the loose woman, and all who are in the house with her, will be kept safe, because she kept secret the men we sent.
18. And as for you, keep yourselves from the cursed thing, for fear that you may get a desire for it and take some of it for yourselves, and so be the cause of a curse and great trouble on the tents of Israel.
19. But all the silver and gold and the vessels of brass and iron are holy to the Lord: they are to come into the store-house of the Lord.
20. So the people gave a loud cry, and the horns were sounded; and on hearing the horns the people gave a loud cry, and the wall came down flat, so that the people went up into the town, every man going straight before him, and they took the town.
21. And they put everything in the town to the curse; men and women, young and old, ox and sheep and ass, they put to death without mercy.
22. Then Joshua said to the two men who had been sent to make a search through the land, Go into the house of the loose woman, and get her out, and all who are with her, as you gave her your oath.
23. So the searchers went in and got out Rahab and her father and mother and her brothers and all she had, and they got out all her family; and they took them outside the tents of Israel.
24. Then, after burning up the town and everything in it, they put the silver and gold and the vessels of brass and iron into the store-house of the Lord's house.
25. But Joshua kept Rahab, the loose woman, and her father's family and all she had, from death, and so she got a living-place among the children of Israel to this day; because she kept safe the men whom Joshua had sent to make a search through the land.
26. Then Joshua gave the people orders with an oath, saying, Let that man be cursed before the Lord who puts his hand to the building up of this town: with the loss of his first son will he put the first stone of it in place, and with the loss of his youngest son he will put up its doors.
27. So the Lord was with Joshua; and news of him went through all the land.

Luke 6 / Basic English

1. Now it came about that on the Sabbath he was going through the fields of grain, and his disciples took the heads of the grain for food, crushing them in their hands.
2. But some of the Pharisees said, Why do you do what it is not right to do on the Sabbath?
3. And Jesus said, Have you not seen in the Writings what David did when he was in need of food, he, and those who were with him;
4. How he went into the house of God and took for food the holy bread, which only the priests may take, and gave it to those who were with him?
5. And he said, The Son of man is lord even of the Sabbath.
6. And it came about, on another Sabbath, that he went into the Synagogue and was teaching there. And a man was there whose right hand was dead.
7. And the scribes and Pharisees were watching him to see if he would make him well on the Sabbath, so that they might be able to say something against him.
8. But he had knowledge of their thoughts; and he said to the man whose hand was dead, Get up and come into the middle. And he got up and came forward.
9. And Jesus said, I put the question to you, Is it right to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? to give life or to take it away?
10. And looking round on all of them, he said to him, Put out your hand. And he did so: and his hand was made well.
11. But they were full of wrath, and were talking together about what they might do to Jesus.
12. And it came about in those days that he went out to the mountain for prayer; and he was all night in prayer to God.
13. And the day came and, turning to his disciples, he made a selection from among them of twelve, to whom he gave the name of Apostles;
14. Simon, to whom he gave the name of Peter, and Andrew, his brother, and James and John and Philip and Bartholomew
15. And Matthew and Thomas and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was named the Zealot,
16. And Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, he who was false to him.
17. And he came down with them to a level place, and a great band of his disciples, and a very great number of people from all Judaea and Jerusalem and from the parts of Tyre and Sidon by the sea, came to give hearing to him, and to be made well from their diseases;
18. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were made well.
19. And all the people were desiring to be touched by him, for power came from him and made them all well.
20. And turning his eyes to his disciples he said, Happy are you who are poor: for the kingdom of God is yours.
21. Happy are you who are in need of food now: for you will be made full. Happy are you who are weeping now; for you will be glad.
22. Happy are you, when men have hate for you, and put you away from among them and say angry words to you, turning away in disgust at your name, because of the Son of man.
23. Be glad in that day, and be lifted up for joy, for your reward in heaven will be great: for their fathers did these same things to the prophets.
24. But unhappy are you who have wealth: for you have been comforted now.
25. Unhappy are you who are full of food now: for you will be in need. Unhappy are you who are laughing now: for you will be crying in sorrow.
26. Unhappy are you when all men give you their approval: for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
27. But I say to you who give ear to me, Have love for those who are against you, do good to those who have hate for you,
28. Give blessing to those who give you curses, say prayers for those who are cruel to you.
29. If a man gives you a blow on one side of your face, then let the other side be turned to him; from him who takes away your coat, do not keep back your robe.
30. Give to everyone who comes with a request, and if a man takes away your property, make no attempt to get it back again.
31. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32. If you have love for those who have love for you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners have love for those who have love for them.
33. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners do the same.
34. And if you let those have the use of your money, from whom you are hoping to get it back, what credit is it to you? even sinners do so to sinners, hoping to get back as much as they gave.
35. But be loving to those who are against you and do them good, and give them your money, not giving up hope, and your reward will be great and you will be the sons of the Most High: for he is kind to evil men, and to those who have hard hearts.
36. Be full of pity, even as your Father is full of pity.
37. Be not judges of others, and you will not be judged: do not give punishment to others, and you will not get punishment yourselves: make others free, and you will be made free:
38. Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, crushed down, full and running over, they will give to you. For in the same measure as you give, it will be given to you again.
39. And he gave them teaching in the form of a story, saying, Is it possible for one blind man to be guide to another? will they not go falling together into a hole?
40. The disciple is not greater than his master, but everyone whose learning is complete will be like his master.
41. And why do you take note of the grain of dust in your brother's eye, but take no note of the bit of wood which is in your eye?
42. How will you say to your brother, Brother, let me take the grain of dust out of your eye, when you yourself do not see the bit of wood in your eye? O false one! first take the wood out of your eye and then you will see clearly to take the dust out of your brother's eye.
43. For no good tree gives bad fruit, and no bad tree gives good fruit.
44. For every tree is judged by its fruit. Men do not get figs from thorns, or grapes from blackberry plants.
45. The good man, out of the good store of his heart, gives good things; and the evil man, out of his evil store, gives evil: for out of the full store of the heart come the words of the mouth.
46. Why do you say to me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
47. Everyone who comes to me and gives ear to my words and does them, I will make clear to you what he is like:
48. He is like a man building a house, who went deep and put the base of it on a rock; and when the water came up and the river was driving against that house, it was not moved, because the building was good.
49. But he who gives hearing, without doing, is like a man building a house on the earth without a base for it; and when the force of the river came against it, straight away it came down; and the destruction of that house was great.