Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Genesis 3 / Basic English

1. Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God truly said that you may not take of the fruit of any tree in the garden?
2. And the woman said, We may take of the fruit of the trees in the garden:
3. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, If you take of it or put your hands on it, death will come to you.
4. And the snake said, Death will not certainly come to you:
5. For God sees that on the day when you take of its fruit, your eyes will be open, and you will be as gods, having knowledge of good and evil.
6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband.
7. And their eyes were open and they were conscious that they had no clothing and they made themselves coats of leaves stitched together.
8. And there came to them the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening wind: and the man and his wife went to a secret place among the trees of the garden, away from the eyes of the Lord God.
9. And the voice of the Lord God came to the man, saying, Where are you?
10. And he said, Hearing your voice in the garden I was full of fear, because I was without clothing: and I kept myself from your eyes.
11. And he said, Who gave you the knowledge that you were without clothing? Have you taken of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take?
12. And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I took it.
13. And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I took it.
14. And the Lord God said to the snake, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle and every beast of the field; you will go flat on the earth, and dust will be your food all the days of your life:
15. And there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed: by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded.
16. To the woman he said, Great will be your pain in childbirth; in sorrow will your children come to birth; still your desire will be for your husband, but he will be your master.
17. And to Adam he said, Because you gave ear to the voice of your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain you will get your food from it all your life.
18. Thorns and waste plants will come up, and the plants of the field will be your food;
19. With the hard work of your hands you will get your bread till you go back to the earth from which you were taken: for dust you are and to the dust you will go back.
20. And the man gave his wife the name of Eve because she was the mother of all who have life.
21. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins for their clothing.
22. And the Lord God said, Now the man has become like one of us, having knowledge of good and evil; and now if he puts out his hand and takes of the fruit of the tree of life, he will go on living for ever.
23. So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to be a worker on the earth from which he was taken.
24. So he sent the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden he put winged ones and a flaming sword turning every way to keep the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 4 / Basic English

1. And the man had connection with Eve his wife, and she became with child and gave birth to Cain, and said, I have got a man from the Lord.
2. Then again she became with child and gave birth to Abel, his brother. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a farmer.
3. And after a time, Cain gave to the Lord an offering of the fruits of the earth.
4. And Abel gave an offering of the young lambs of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord was pleased with Abel's offering;
5. But in Cain and his offering he had no pleasure. And Cain was angry and his face became sad.
6. And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? and why is your face sad?
7. If you do well, will you not have honour? and if you do wrong, sin is waiting at the door, desiring to have you, but do not let it be your master.
8. And Cain said to his brother, Let us go into the field: and when they were in the field, Cain made an attack on his brother Abel and put him to death.
9. And the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? And he said, I have no idea: am I my brother's keeper?
10. And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the earth.
11. And now you are cursed from the earth, whose mouth is open to take your brother's blood from your hand;
12. No longer will the earth give you her fruit as the reward of your work; you will be a wanderer in flight over the earth.
13. And Cain said, My punishment is greater than my strength.
14. You have sent me out this day from the face of the earth and from before your face; I will be a wanderer in flight over the earth, and whoever sees me will put me to death.
15. And the Lord said, Truly, if Cain is put to death, seven lives will be taken for his. And the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one might put him to death.
16. And Cain went away from before the face of the Lord, and made his living-place in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
17. And Cain had connection with his wife and she became with child and gave birth to Enoch: and he made a town, and gave the town the name of Enoch after his son.
18. And Enoch had a son Irad: and Irad became the father of Mehujael: and Mehujael became the father of Methushael: and Methushael became the father of Lamech.
19. And Lamech had two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
20. And Adah gave birth to Jabal: he was the father of such as are living in tents and keep cattle.
21. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all players on instruments of music.
22. And Zillah gave birth to Tubal-cain, who is the father of every maker of cutting instruments of brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
23. And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, give ear to my voice; you wives of Lamech, give attention to my words, for I would put a man to death for a wound, and a young man for a blow;
24. If seven lives are to be taken as punishment for Cain's death, seventy-seven will be taken for Lamech's.
25. And Adam had connection with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son to whom she gave the name of Seth: for she said, God has given me another seed in place of Abel, whom Cain put to death.
26. And Seth had a son, and he gave him the name of Enosh: at this time men first made use of the name of the Lord in worship.

Matthew 2 / Basic English

1. Now when the birth of Jesus took place in Beth-lehem of Judaea, in the days of Herod the king, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2. Saying, Where is the King of the Jews whose birth has now taken place? We have seen his star in the east and have come to give him worship.
3. And when it came to the ears of Herod the king, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4. And he got together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, questioning them as to where the birth-place of the Christ would be.
5. And they said to him, In Beth-lehem of Judaea; for so it is said in the writings of the prophet,
6. You Beth-lehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the chiefs of Judah: out of you will come a ruler, who will be the keeper of my people Israel.
7. Then Herod sent for the wise men privately, and put questions to them about what time the star had been seen.
8. And he sent them to Beth-lehem and said, Go and make certain where the young child is; and when you have seen him, let me have news of it, so that I may come and give him worship.
9. And after hearing the king, they went on their way; and the star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the young child was.
10. And when they saw the star they were full of joy.
11. And they came into the house, and saw the young child with Mary, his mother; and falling down on their faces they gave him worship; and from their store they gave him offerings of gold, perfume, and spices.
12. And it was made clear to them by God in a dream that they were not to go back to Herod; so they went into their country by another way.
13. And when they had gone, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream, saying, Get up and take the young child and his mother, and go into Egypt, and do not go from there till I give you word; for Herod will be searching for the young child to put him to death.
14. So he took the young child and his mother by night, and went into Egypt;
15. And was there till the death of Herod; so that the word of the Lord through the prophet might come true, Out of Egypt have I sent for my son.
16. Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was very angry; and he sent out, and put to death all the male children in Beth-lehem and in all the parts round about it, from two years old and under, acting on the knowledge which he had got with care from the wise men.
17. Then the word of Jeremiah the prophet came true,
18. In Ramah there was a sound of weeping and great sorrow, Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted for their loss.
19. But when Herod was dead, an angel of the Lord came in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20. Saying, Get up and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: because they who were attempting to take the young child's life are dead.
21. And he got up, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22. But when it came to his ears that Archelaus was ruling over Judaea in the place of his father Herod, he was in fear of going there; and God having given him news of the danger in a dream, he went out of the way into the country parts of Galilee.
23. And he came and was living in a town named Nazareth: so that the word of the prophets might come true, He will be named a Nazarene.