Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Judges 6 / Basic English

1. And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord gave them up into the hand of Midian for seven years.
2. And Midian was stronger than Israel; and because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made holes for themselves in the mountains, and hollows in the rocks, and strong places.
3. And whenever Israel's grain was planted, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came up against them;
4. And put their army in position against them; and they took all the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, till there was no food in Israel, or any sheep or oxen or asses.
5. For they came up regularly with their oxen and their tents; they came like the locusts in number; they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land for its destruction.
6. And Israel was in great need because of Midian; and the cry of the children of Israel went up to the Lord.
7. And when the cry of the children of Israel, because of Midian, came before the Lord,
8. The Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, The Lord the God of Israel, has said, I took you up from Egypt, out of the prison-house;
9. And I took you out of the hands of the Egyptians and out of the hands of all who were cruel to you, and I sent them out by force from before you and gave you their land;
10. And I said to you, I am the Lord your God; you are not to give worship to the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living, but you did not give ear to my voice.
11. Now the angel of the Lord came and took his seat under the oak-tree in Ophrah, in the field of Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon was crushing grain in the place where the grapes were crushed, so that the Midianites might not see it.
12. And the angel of the Lord came before his eyes, and said to him, The Lord is with you, O man of war.
13. Then Gideon said to him, O my lord, if the Lord is with us why has all this come on us? And where are all his works of power, of which our fathers have given us word, saying, Did not the Lord take us out of Egypt? But now he has given us up, handing us over to the power of Midian.
14. And the Lord, turning to him, said, Go in the strength you have and be Israel's saviour from Midian: have I not sent you?
15. And he said to him, O Lord, how may I be the saviour of Israel? See, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
16. Then the Lord said to him, Truly, I will be with you, and you will overcome the Midianites as if they were one man.
17. So he said to him, If now I have grace in your eyes, then give me a sign that it is you who are talking to me.
18. Do not go away till I come with my offering and put it before you. And he said, I will not go away before you come back.
19. Then Gideon went in and made ready a young goat, and with an ephah of meal he made unleavened cakes: he put the meat in a basket and the soup in which it had been cooked he put in a pot, and he took it out to him under the oak-tree and gave it to him there.
20. And the angel of God said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them down on the rock over there, draining out the soup over them. And he did so.
21. Then the angel of the Lord put out the stick which was in his hand, touching the meat and the cakes with the end of it; and a flame came up out of the rock, burning up the meat and the cakes: and the angel of the Lord was seen no longer.
22. Then Gideon was certain that he was the angel of the Lord; and Gideon said, I am in fear, O Lord God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.
23. But the Lord said to him, Peace be with you; have no fear: you are in no danger of death.
24. Then Gideon made an altar there to the Lord, and gave it the name Yahweh-shalom; to this day it is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25. The same night the Lord said to him, Take ten men of your servants and an ox seven years old, and after pulling down the altar of Baal which is your father's, and cutting down the holy tree by its side,
26. Make an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this rock, in the ordered way and take the ox and make a burned offering with the wood of the holy tree which has been cut down.
27. Then Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord had said to him; but fearing to do it by day, because of his father's people and the men of the town, he did it by night.
28. And the men of the town got up early in the morning, and they saw the altar of Baal broken down, and the holy tree which was by it cut down, and the ox offered on the altar which had been put up there.
29. And they said to one another, Who has done this thing? And after searching with care, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, has done this thing.
30. Then the men of the town said to Joash, Make your son come out to be put to death, for pulling down the altar of Baal and cutting down the holy tree which was by it.
31. But Joash said to all those who were attacking him, Will you take up the cause of Baal? will you be his saviour? Let anyone who will take up his cause be put to death while it is still morning: if he is a god, let him take up his cause himself because of the pulling down of his altar.
32. So that day he gave him the name of Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal take up his cause against him because his altar has been broken down.
33. Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east, banding themselves together, went over and put up their tents in the valley of Jezreel.
34. But the spirit of the Lord came on Gideon; and at the sound of his horn all Abiezer came together after him.
35. And he sent through all Manasseh, and they came after him; and he sent to Asher and Zebulun and Naphtali, and they came up and were joined to the others.
36. Then Gideon said to God, If you are going to give Israel salvation by my hand, as you have said,
37. See, I will put the wool of a sheep on the grain-floor; if there is dew on the wool only, while all the earth is dry, then I will be certain that it is your purpose to give Israel salvation by my hand as you have said.
38. And it was so: for he got up early on the morning after, and twisting the wool in his hands, he got a basin full of water from the dew on the wool.
39. Then Gideon said to God, Do not be moved to wrath against me if I say only this: let me make one more test with the wool; let the wool now be dry, while the earth is covered with dew.
40. And that night God did so; for the wool was dry, and there was dew on all the earth round it.

Luke 19 / Basic English

1. And he went into Jericho, and when he was going through it,
2. A man, named Zacchaeus, who was the chief tax-farmer, and a man of wealth,
3. Made an attempt to get a view of Jesus, and was not able to do so, because of the people, for he was a small man.
4. And he went quickly in front of them and got up into a tree to see him, for he was going that way.
5. And when Jesus came to the place, looking up, he said to him, Zacchaeus, be quick and come down, for I am coming to your house today.
6. And he came down quickly, and took him into his house with joy.
7. And when they saw it, they were all angry, saying, He has gone into the house of a sinner.
8. And Zacchaeus, waiting before him, said to the Lord, See, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone wrongly, I give him back four times as much.
9. And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, for even he is a son of Abraham.
10. For the Son of man came to make search for those who are wandering from the way, and to be their Saviour.
11. And while they were giving ear to these words, he made another story for them, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they were of the opinion that the kingdom of God was coming straight away.
12. So he said, A certain man of high birth went into a far-away country to get a kingdom for himself, and to come back.
13. And he sent for ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds and said to them, Do business with this till I come.
14. But his people had no love for him, and sent representatives after him, saying, We will not have this man for our ruler.
15. And when he came back again, having got his kingdom, he gave orders for those servants to whom he had given the money to come to him, so that he might have an account of what business they had done.
16. And the first came before him, saying, Lord, your pound has made ten pounds.
17. And he said to him, You have done well, O good servant: because you have done well in a small thing you will have authority over ten towns.
18. And another came, saying, Your pound has made five pounds.
19. And he said, You will be ruler over five towns.
20. And another came, saying, Lord, here is your pound, which I put away in a cloth;
21. Because I was in fear of you, for you are a hard man: you take up what you have not put down, and get in grain where you have not put seed.
22. He said to him, By the words of your mouth you will be judged, you bad servant. You had knowledge that I am a hard man, taking up what I have not put down and getting in grain where I have not put seed;
23. Why then did you not put my money in a bank, so that when I came I would get it back with interest?
24. And he said to the others who were near, Take the pound away from him, and give it to the man who has ten.
25. And they say to him, Lord, he has ten pounds.
26. And I say to you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
27. And as for those who were against me, who would not have me for their ruler, let them come here, and be put to death before me.
28. And when he had said this, he went on in front of them, going up to Jerusalem.
29. And it came about that when he got near Beth-phage and Bethany by the mountain which is named the Mountain of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,
30. Saying, Go into the little town in front of you, and on going in you will see a young ass fixed with a cord, on which no man has ever been seated; let him loose and take him.
31. And if anyone says to you, Why are you taking him? say, The Lord has need of him.
32. And those whom he sent went away, and it was as he said.
33. And when they were getting the young ass, the owners of it said to them, Why are you taking the young ass?
34. And they said, The Lord has need of him.
35. And they took him to Jesus, and they put their clothing on the ass, and Jesus got on to him.
36. And while he went on his way they put their clothing down on the road in front of him.
37. And when he came near the foot of the Mountain of Olives, all the disciples with loud voices gave praise to God with joy, because of all the great works which they had seen;
38. Saying, A blessing on the King who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and glory in the highest.
39. And some of the Pharisees among the people said to him, Master, make your disciples be quiet.
40. And he said in answer, I say to you, if these men keep quiet, the very stones will be crying out.
41. And when he got near and saw the town, he was overcome with weeping for it,
42. Saying, If you, even you, had knowledge today, of the things which give peace! but you are not able to see them.
43. For the time will come when your attackers will put a wall round you, and come all round you and keep you in on every side,
44. And will make you level with the earth, and your children with you; and there will not be one stone resting on another in you, because you did not see that it was your day of mercy.
45. And he went into the Temple and put out those who were trading there,
46. Saying to them, It has been said, My house is to be a house of prayer, but you have made it a hole of thieves.
47. And every day he was teaching in the Temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people were attempting to put him to death;
48. But they were not able to do anything, because the people all kept near him, being greatly interested in his words.