Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Genesis 37 / Basic English

1. Now Jacob was living in the land where his father had made a place for himself, in the land of Canaan.
2. These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a boy seventeen years old, was looking after the flock, together with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph gave their father a bad account of them.
3. Now the love which Israel had for Joseph was greater than his love for all his other children, because he got him when he was an old man: and he had a long coat made for him.
4. And because his brothers saw that Joseph was dearer to his father than all the others, they were full of hate for him, and would not say a kind word to him.
5. Now Joseph had a dream, and he gave his brothers an account of it, which made their hate greater than ever.
6. And he said to them, Let me give you the story of my dream.
7. We were in the field, getting the grain stems together, and my grain kept upright, and yours came round and went down on the earth before mine.
8. And his brothers said to him, Are you to be our king? will you have authority over us? And because of his dream and his words, their hate for him became greater than ever.
9. Then he had another dream, and gave his brothers an account of it, saying, I have had another dream: the sun and the moon and eleven stars gave honour to me.
10. And he gave word of it to his father and his brothers; but his father protesting said, What sort of a dream is this? am I and your mother and your brothers to go down on our faces to the earth before you?
11. And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.
12. Now his brothers went to keep watch over their father's flock in Shechem.
13. And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers with the flock in Shechem? come, I will send you to them. And he said to him, Here am I.
14. And he said to him, Go now, and see if your brothers are well and how the flock is; then come back and give me word. So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15. And a man saw him wandering in the country, and said to him, What are you looking for?
16. And he said, I am looking for my brothers; please give me word of where they are keeping their flock.
17. And the man said, They have gone away from here, for they said in my hearing, Let us go to Dothan. So Joseph went after them and came up with them at Dothan.
18. But they saw him when he was a long way off, and before he came near them they made a secret design against him to put him to death;
19. Saying to one another, See, here comes this dreamer.
20. Let us now put him to death and put his body into one of these holes, and we will say, An evil beast has put him to death: then we will see what becomes of his dreams.
21. But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life.
22. Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.
23. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long coat which he had on;
24. And they took him and put him in the hole: now the hole had no water in it.
25. Then seating themselves, they took their meal: and looking up, they saw a travelling band of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead on their way to Egypt, with spices and perfumes on their camels.
26. And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood?
27. Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers gave ear to him.
28. And some traders from Midian went by; so pulling Joseph up out of the hole, they gave him to the Ishmaelites for twenty bits of silver, and they took him to Egypt.
29. Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief,
30. He went back to his brothers, and said, The child is gone; what am I to do?
31. Then they took Joseph's coat, and put on it some of the blood from a young goat which they had put to death,
32. And they took the coat to their father, and said, We came across this; is it your son's coat or not?
33. And he saw that it was, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast has put him to death; without doubt Joseph has come to a cruel end.
34. Then Jacob, giving signs of grief, put on haircloth, and went on weeping for his son day after day.
35. And all his sons and all his daughters came to give him comfort, but he would not be comforted, saying with weeping, I will go down to the underworld to my son. So great was his father's sorrow for him.
36. And in Egypt the men of Midian gave him for a price to Potiphar, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house.

Genesis 38 / Basic English

1. Now at that time, Judah went away from his brothers and became the friend of a man of Adullam named Hirah.
2. And there he saw the daughter of a certain man of Canaan named Shua, and took her as his wife.
3. And she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Er.
4. And again she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Onan.
5. Then she had another son, to whom she gave the name Shelah; she was at Chezib when the birth took place.
6. And Judah took a wife for his first son Er, and her name was Tamar.
7. Now Er, Judah's first son, did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that he put him to death.
8. Then Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brother's wife and do what it is right for a husband's brother to do; make her your wife and get offspring for your brother.
9. But Onan, seeing that the offspring would not be his, went in to his brother's wife, but let his seed go on to the earth, so that he might not get offspring for his brother.
10. And what he did was evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that he put him to death, like his brother.
11. Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Go back to your father's house and keep yourself as a widow till my son Shelah becomes a man: for he had in his mind the thought that death might come to him as it had come to his brothers. So Tamar went back to her father's house.
12. And after a time, Bath-shua, Judah's wife, came to her end; and after Judah was comforted for her loss, he went to Timnah, where they were cutting the wool of his sheep, and his friend Hirah of Adullam went with him.
13. And when Tamar had news that her father-in-law was going up to Timnah to the wool-cutting,
14. She took off her widow's clothing, and covering herself with her veil, she took her seat near Enaim on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was now a man, but she had not been made his wife.
15. When Judah saw her he took her to be a loose woman of the town, because her face was covered.
16. And turning to her by the roadside, he said to her, Let me come in to you; for he had no idea that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me as my price?
17. And he said, I will give you a young goat from the flock. And she said, What will you give me as a sign till you send it?
18. And he said, What would you have? And she said, Your ring and its cord and the stick in your hand. So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she became with child by him.
19. Then she got up and went away and took off her veil and put on her widow's clothing.
20. Then Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat, to get back the things which he had given as a sign to the woman: but she was not there.
21. And he put questions to the men of the place, saying, Where is the loose woman who was in Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There was no such woman there.
22. So he went back to Judah, and said, I have not seen her, and the men of the place say that there is no such woman there.
23. And Judah said, Let her keep the things, so that we may not be shamed; I sent the young goat, but you did not see the woman.
24. Now about three months after this, word came to Judah that Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had been acting like a loose woman and was with child. And Judah said, Take her out and let her be burned.
25. And while she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, The man whose property these things are, is the father of my child: say then, whose are this ring and this cord and this stick?
26. Then Judah said openly that they were his, and said, She is more upright than I am, for I did not give her to Shelah my son. And he had no more connection with her.
27. And when the time came for her to give birth, it was clear that there were two children in her body.
28. And while she was in the act of giving birth, one of them put out his hand; and the woman who was with her put a red thread round his hand, saying, This one came out first.
29. But then he took his hand back again, and his brother came first to birth: and the woman said, What an opening you have made for yourself! So he was named Perez.
30. And then his brother came out, with the red thread round his hand, and he was named Zerah.

Matthew 22 / Basic English

1. And Jesus, talking to them again in stories, said:
2. The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who made a feast when his son was married,
3. And sent out his servants to get in the guests to the feast: and they would not come.
4. Again he sent out other servants, with orders to say to the guests, See, I have made ready my feast: my oxen and my fat beasts have been put to death, and all things are ready: come to the feast.
5. But they gave no attention, and went about their business, one to his farm, another to his trade:
6. And the rest put violent hands on his servants, and did evil to them, and put them to death.
7. But the king was angry; and he sent his armies, and those who had put his servants to death he gave to destruction, burning down their town with fire.
8. Then he said to his servants, The feast is ready but the guests were not good enough.
9. Go then to the cross-roads, and get all those whom you see to come to the bride-feast.
10. And those servants went out into the streets, and got together all those whom they came across, bad and good: and the feast was full of guests.
11. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who had not on a guest's robe;
12. And he says to him, Friend, how came you in here not having a guest's robe? And he had nothing to say.
13. Then the king said to the servants, Put cords round his hands and feet and put him out into the dark; there will be weeping and cries of sorrow.
14. For out of all to whom the good news has come, only a small number will get salvation.
15. Then the Pharisees went and had a meeting to see how they might make use of his words to take him.
16. And they sent to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we see that you are true, and that you are teaching the true way of God, and have no fear of anyone, because you have no respect for a man's position.
17. Give us, then, your opinion of this: Is it right to give tax to Caesar, or not?
18. But Jesus saw their trick and said, Oh false ones, why are you attempting to put me in the wrong?
19. Let me see the tax money. And they gave him a penny.
20. And he said to them, Whose is this image and name on it?
21. They say to him, Caesar's. Then he said to them, Give to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's.
22. And hearing it, they were full of wonder, and went away from him.
23. On the same day there came to him the Sadducees, who say that there is no coming back from the dead: and they put a question to him, saying,
24. Master, Moses said, If a man, at the time of his death, has no children, let his brother take his wife, and get a family for his brother;
25. Now there were among us seven brothers; and the first was married and at his death, having no seed, gave his wife to his brother;
26. In the same way the second and the third, up to the seventh.
27. And last of all the woman came to her end.
28. When they come back from the dead, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? because they all had her.
29. But Jesus said to them in answer, You are in error, not having knowledge of the Writings, or of the power of God.
30. For when they come back from the dead there are no husbands and wives, but they are as the angels in heaven.
31. But about the dead coming back to life, have you no knowledge of what was said to you by God in the Writings:
32. I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead but of the living.
33. And the people hearing it were surprised at his teaching.
34. But the Pharisees, hearing how the mouths of the Sadducees had been stopped, came together;
35. And one of them, a teacher of the law, put a question to him, testing him, and saying,
36. Master, which is the chief rule in the law?
37. And he said to him, Have love for the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38. This is the first and greatest rule.
39. And a second like it is this, Have love for your neighbour as for yourself.
40. On these two rules all the law and the prophets are based.
41. Now while the Pharisees were together, Jesus put a question to them, saying,
42. What is your opinion of the Christ? whose son is he? They say to him, The Son of David.
43. He says to them, How then does David in the Spirit give him the name of Lord, saying,
44. The Lord said to my Lord, Be seated at my right hand, till I put under your feet all those who are against you?
45. If David then gives him the name of Lord, how is he his son?
46. And no one was able to give him an answer, and so great was their fear of him, that from that day no one put any more questions to him.