Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

2 Samuel (2 Kings) 22 / Basic English

1. And David made a song to the Lord in these words, on the day when the Lord made him free from the hands of all his haters, and from the hand of Saul:
2. And he said, The Lord is my Rock, my walled town, and my saviour, even mine;
3. My God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my safe place; my saviour, who keeps me safe from the violent man.
4. I will send up my cry to the Lord, who is to be praised; so will I be made safe from those who are against me.
5. For the waves of death came round me, and the seas of evil put me in fear;
6. The cords of hell were round me: the nets of death came on me.
7. In my trouble my voice went up to the Lord, and my cry to my God: my voice came to his hearing in his holy Temple, and my prayer came to his ears.
8. Then the earth was moved with a violent shock; the bases of heaven were moved and shaking, because he was angry.
9. There went up a smoke from his nose, and a fire of destruction from his mouth: coals were lighted by it.
10. The heavens were bent, so that he might come down; and it was dark under his feet.
11. And he went through the air, seated on a storm-cloud: going quickly on the wings of the wind.
12. And he made the dark his tent round him, a mass of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
13. Before his shining light his dark clouds went past, raining ice and coals of fire.
14. The Lord made thunder in the heavens, and the voice of the Highest was sounding out.
15. And he sent out his arrows, driving them in all directions; by his flames of fire they were troubled.
16. Then the deep beds of the sea were seen, and the bases of the world were uncovered, because of the Lord's wrath, because of the breath of his mouth.
17. He sent from on high, he took me, pulling me out of great waters.
18. He made me free from my strong hater, from those who were against me, because they were stronger than I.
19. They came on me in the day of my trouble: but the Lord was my support.
20. He took me out into a wide place; he was my saviour because he had delight in me.
21. The Lord gives me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean before him.
22. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not been turned away in sin from my God.
23. For all his decisions were before me, and I did not put away his laws from me.
24. And I was upright before him, and I kept myself from sin.
25. Because of this the Lord has given me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean in his eyes.
26. On him who has mercy you will have mercy; to the upright you will be upright;
27. He who is holy will see that you are holy; but to the man whose way is not straight you will be a hard judge.
28. For you are the saviour of those who are in trouble; but your eyes are on men of pride, to make them low.
29. For you are my light, O Lord; and the Lord will make the dark bright for me.
30. By your help I have made a way through the wall which was shutting me in: by the help of my God I have gone over a wall.
31. As for God, his way is all good: the word of the Lord is tested; he is a safe cover for all those who put their faith in him.
32. For who is God but the Lord? and who is a Rock but our God?
33. God puts a strong band about me, guiding me in a straight way.
34. He makes my feet like roes' feet, and puts me on high places.
35. He makes my hands expert in war, so that a bow of brass is bent by my arms.
36. You have given me the breastplate of your salvation, and your mercy has made me great.
37. You have made my steps wide under me, so that my feet make no slip.
38. I go after my haters and overtake them; not turning back till they are all overcome.
39. I have sent destruction on them and given them wounds, so that they are not able to get up: they are stretched under my feet.
40. For I have been armed by you with strength for the fight: you have made low under me those who came out against me.
41. By you their backs are turned in flight, so that my haters are cut off.
42. They were crying out, but there was no one to come to their help: even to the Lord, but he gave them no answer.
43. Then they were crushed as small as the dust of the earth, stamped down under my feet like the waste of the streets.
44. You have made me free from the fightings of my people; you have made me the head of the nations: a people of whom I had no knowledge will be my servants.
45. Men of other countries will, with false hearts, put themselves under my authority: from the time when my name comes to their ears, they will be ruled by me.
46. They will be wasted away, they will come out of their secret places shaking with fear.
47. The Lord is living; praise be to my Rock, and let the God of my salvation be honoured:
48. It is God who sends punishment on my haters, and puts peoples under my rule.
49. He makes me free from my haters: I am lifted up over those who come up against me: you have made me free from the violent man.
50. Because of this I will give you praise, O Lord, among the nations, and will make a song of praise to your name.
51. Great salvation does he give to his king; he has mercy on the king of his selection, David, and on his seed for ever.

John 3 / Basic English

1. Now there was among the Pharisees a man named Nicodemus, who was one of the rulers of the Jews.
2. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we are certain that you have come from God as a teacher, because no man would be able to do these signs which you do if God was not with him.
3. Jesus said to him, Truly, I say to you, Without a new birth no man is able to see the kingdom of God.
4. Nicodemus said to him, How is it possible for a man to be given birth when he is old? Is he able to go into his mother's body a second time and come to birth again?
5. Jesus said in answer, Truly, I say to you, If a man's birth is not from water and from the Spirit, it is not possible for him to go into the kingdom of God.
6. That which has birth from the flesh is flesh, and that which has birth from the Spirit is spirit.
7. Do not be surprised that I say to you, It is necessary for you to have a second birth.
8. The wind goes where its pleasure takes it, and the sound of it comes to your ears, but you are unable to say where it comes from and where it goes: so it is with everyone whose birth is from the Spirit.
9. And Nicodemus said to him, How is it possible for these things to be?
10. And Jesus, answering, said, Are you the teacher of Israel and have no knowledge of these things?
11. Truly, I say to you, We say that of which we have knowledge; we give witness of what we have seen; and you do not take our witness to be true.
12. If you have no belief when my words are about the things of earth, how will you have belief if my words are about the things of heaven?
13. And no one has ever gone up to heaven but he who came down from heaven, the Son of man.
14. As the snake was lifted up by Moses in the waste land, even so it is necessary for the Son of man to be lifted up:
15. So that whoever has faith may have in him eternal life.
16. For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever has faith in him may not come to destruction but have eternal life.
17. God did not send his Son into the world to be judge of the world; he sent him so that the world might have salvation through him.
18. The man who has faith in him does not come up to be judged; but he who has no faith in him has been judged even now, because he has no faith in the name of the only Son of God.
19. And this is the test by which men are judged: the light has come into the world and men have more love for the dark than for the light, because their acts are evil.
20. The light is hated by everyone whose acts are evil and he does not come to the light for fear that his acts will be seen.
21. But he whose life is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his acts have been done by the help of God.
22. After these things Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judaea, and there he was with them for some time, giving baptism.
23. Now John was then giving baptism at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people came and were given baptism.
24. For at this time John had not been put into prison.
25. Then a question came up between John's disciples and a Jew about washing.
26. And they went to John and said to him, Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, the man to whom you gave witness, is now giving baptism, and everyone is going to him.
27. And this was John's answer: A man is unable to have anything if it is not given to him from heaven.
28. You yourselves give witness that I said, I am not the Christ. What I said was, I am sent before the Christ.
29. He who has the bride is the husband: but the husband's friend, whose place is by his side and whose ears are open to him, is full of joy because of the husband's voice: such is my joy, and it is complete.
30. He has to become greater while I become less.
31. He who comes from heaven is greater than all others: he who comes from earth is of the earth, and of the earth are his words: he who comes from heaven is over all.
32. He gives witness of what he has seen and of what has come to his ears; and no man takes his witness as true.
33. He who so takes his witness has made clear his faith that God is true.
34. For he whom God has sent says God's words; and God does not give him the Spirit by measure.
35. The Father has love for the Son and has put all things into his hands.
36. He who has faith in the Son has eternal life; but he who has not faith in the Son will not see life; God's wrath is resting on him.