Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Joshua 13 / Basic English

1. Now Joshua was old and full of years; and the Lord said to him, You are old and full of years, and there is still very much land to be taken.
2. This is the land which is still to be taken: all the country of the Philistines, and all the Geshurites;
3. From the Shihor, which is before Egypt, to the edge of Ekron to the north, which is taken to be Canaanite property: the five chiefs of the Philistines; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites, as well as the Avvim;
4. On the south: all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah which is the property of the Zidonians, to Aphek, as far as the limit of the Amorites:
5. And the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, looking east, from Baal-gad under Mount Hermon as far as Hamath:
6. All the people of the hill-country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, all the Zidonians; them will I send out from before the children of Israel: only make division of it to Israel for a heritage, as I have given you orders to do.
7. So now make division of this land for a heritage to the nine tribes, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
8. With him the Reubenites and the Gadites have been given their heritage, which Moses gave them, on the east side of Jordan, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave them;
9. From Aroer, on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the town in the middle of the valley, and all the table-land from Medeba to Dibon;
10. And all the towns of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who was ruling in Heshbon, to the limits of the children of Ammon;
11. And Gilead, and the land of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah;
12. All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who was ruling in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he was one of the last of the Rephaim); these did Moses overcome, driving them out of their country.
13. However, the people of Israel did not send out the Geshurites, or the Maacathites: but Geshur and Maacath are living among Israel to this day.
14. Only to the tribe of Levi he gave no heritage; the offerings of the Lord, the God of Israel, made by fire are his heritage, as he said to him.
15. And Moses gave their heritage to the tribe of Reuben by their families.
16. Their limit was from Aroer, on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the town in the middle of the valley, and all the table-land by Medeba;
17. Heshbon and all her towns in the table-land; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon;
18. And Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath;
19. And Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar in the mountain of the valley;
20. And Beth-peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth;
21. And all the towns of the table-land, and all the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who was ruling in Heshbon, whom Moses overcame, together with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the chiefs of Sihon, who were living in the land.
22. And Balaam, the son of Beor, the prophet, the children of Israel put to death with the sword.
23. And the limit of the children of Reuben was the edge of Jordan. This was the heritage of the children of Reuben by their families, with its towns and its unwalled places.
24. And Moses gave their heritage to the tribe of Gad by their families.
25. And their limit was Jazer, and all the towns of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer before Rabbah;
26. And from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim to the edge of Debir;
27. And in the valley, Beth-haram, and Beth-nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon, king of Heshbon, having Jordan for its limit, to the end of the sea of Chinnereth on the east side of Jordan.
28. This is the heritage of the children of Gad by their families, with its towns and its unwalled places
29. And Moses gave their heritage to the half-tribe of Manasseh by their families.
30. And their limit was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan, and all Havvoth-Jair, in Bashan, sixty towns;
31. And half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, towns of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, for half of the children of Machir by their families.
32. These are the heritages of which Moses made distribution in the lowlands of Moab, on the other side of Jordan in Jericho, to the east.
33. But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no heritage: the Lord, the God of Israel, is their heritage, as he said to them.

Joshua 14 / Basic English

1. And these are the heritages which the children of Israel took in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, gave out to them;
2. Their heritage by the Lord's decision, as he gave orders by Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe.
3. For Moses had given their heritage to the two tribes and the half-tribe on the other side of Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no heritage among them.
4. Because the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim; and they gave the Levites no part in the land, only towns for their living-places, with the grass-lands for their cattle and for their property.
5. As the Lord had given orders to Moses, so the people of Israel did, and they made division of the land.
6. Then the children of Judah went to Joshua in Gilgal; and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, said to him, You have knowledge of what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about me and about you in Kadesh-barnea.
7. I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to make a search through the land; and the account which I gave him was in keeping with his desire.
8. My brothers, however, who went up with me, made the heart of the people like water: but I was true to the Lord with all my heart.
9. And on that day Moses took an oath, saying, Truly the land where your feet have been placed will become a heritage for you and your children for ever, because you have been true to the Lord your God with all your heart.
10. And now, as you see, the Lord has kept me safe these forty-five years, from the time when the Lord said this to Moses, while Israel was wandering in the waste land: and now I am eighty-five years old.
11. And still, I am as strong today as I was when Moses sent me out: as my strength was then, so is it now, for war and for all the business of life.
12. So now, give me this hill-country named by the Lord at that time; for you had an account of it then, how the Anakim were there, and great walled towns: it may be that the Lord will be with me, and I will be able to take their land, as the Lord said.
13. And Joshua gave him his blessing; and he gave Hebron to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, for his heritage.
14. So Hebron became the heritage of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, to this day, because with all his heart he was true to the Lord, the God of Israel.
15. In earlier times the name of Hebron had been Kiriath-arba, named after Arba, the greatest of the Anakim. And the land had rest from war.

Luke 10 / Basic English

1. Now after these things, the Lord made selection of seventy others and sent them before him, two together, into every town and place where he himself was about to come.
2. And he said to them, There is much grain ready to be cut, but not enough workers: so make prayer to the Lord of the grain-fields that he will send workers to get in the grain.
3. Go on your way: see, I send you out like lambs among wolves.
4. Take no bag for money or for food, and no shoes; say no word to any man on the way.
5. And whenever you go into a house, first say, Peace be to this house.
6. And if a son of peace is there, your peace will be with him: but if not, it will come back to you again.
7. And keep in that same house, taking what food and drink they give you: for the worker has a right to his reward. Do not go from house to house.
8. And into whatever town you go, if they take you in, take whatever food is given to you:
9. And make well those in it who are ill and say to them, The kingdom of God is near to you.
10. But if you go into a town where they will not have you, go out into the streets of it and say,
11. Even the dust of your town, which is on our feet, we put off as a witness against you; but be certain of this, that the kingdom of God is near.
12. I say to you, It will be better in that day for Sodom than for that town.
13. A curse is on you, Chorazin! A curse is on you, Beth-saida! For if such works of power had been done in Tyre and Sidon as have been done in you, they would have been turned from their sins, in days gone by, seated in the dust.
14. But it will be better for Tyre and Sidon, in the day of judging, than for you.
15. And you, Capernaum, were you not lifted up to heaven? you will go down to hell.
16. Whoever gives ear to you, gives ear to me; and whoever is against you, is against me; and whoever is against me, is against him who sent me.
17. And the seventy came back with joy, saying, Lord, even the evil spirits are under our power in your name.
18. And he said, I was watching for Satan, falling from heaven like a star.
19. See, I have given you power to put your feet on snakes and evil beasts, and over all the strength of him who is against you: and nothing will do you damage.
20. Do not be glad, however, because you have power over spirits, but because your names are recorded in heaven.
21. In that same hour he was full of joy in the Holy Spirit 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: for so, O Father, it was pleasing in your eyes.
22. All things have been given to me by my Father: and no one has knowledge of the Son, but only the Father: and of the Father, but only the Son, and he to whom the Son will make it clear.
23. And, turning to the disciples, he said privately, Happy are the eyes which see the things you see:
24. For I say to you that numbers of prophets and kings have had a desire to see the things which you see, and have not seen them, and to have knowledge of the things which have come to your ears, and they had it not.
25. And a certain teacher of the law got up and put him to the test, saying, Master, what have I to do so that I may have eternal life?
26. And he said to him, What does the law say, in your reading of it?
27. And he, answering, said, Have love for the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and for your neighbour as for yourself.
28. And he said, You have given the right answer: do this and you will have life.
29. But he, desiring to put himself in the right, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30. And Jesus, answering him, said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he got into the hands of thieves, who took his clothing and gave him cruel blows, and when they went away, he was half dead.
31. And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he went by on the other side.
32. And in the same way, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, went by on the other side.
33. But a certain man of Samaria, journeying that way, came where he was, and when he saw him, he was moved with pity for him,
34. And came to him and put clean linen round his wounds, with oil and wine; and he put him on his beast and took him to a house and took care of him.
35. And the day after he took two pennies and gave them to the owner of the house and said, Take care of him; and if this money is not enough, when I come again I will give you whatever more is needed.
36. Which of these three men, in your opinion, was neighbour to the man who came into the hands of thieves?
37. And he said, The one who had mercy on him. And Jesus said, Go and do the same.
38. Now, while they were on their way, he came to a certain town; and a woman named Martha took him into her house.
39. And she had a sister, by name Mary, who took her seat at the Lord's feet and gave attention to his words.
40. But Martha had her hands full of the work of the house, and she came to him and said, Lord, is it nothing to you that my sister has let me do all the work? Say to her that she is to give me some help.
41. But the Lord, answering, said to her, Martha, Martha, you are full of care and troubled about such a number of things:
42. Little is needed, or even one thing only: for Mary has taken that good part, which will not be taken away from her.