Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Ecclesiastes 8 / Basic English

1. Who is like the wise man? and to whom is the sense of anything clear? A man's wisdom makes his face shining, and his hard face will be changed.
2. I say to you, Keep the king's law, from respect for the oath of God.
3. Be not quick to go from before him. Be not fixed in an evil design, because he does whatever is pleasing to him.
4. The word of a king has authority; and who may say to him, What is this you are doing?
5. Whoever keeps the law will come to no evil: and a wise man's heart has knowledge of time and of decision.
6. For every purpose there is a time and a decision, because the sorrow of man is great in him.
7. No one is certain what is to be, and who is able to say to him when it will be?
8. No man has authority over the wind, to keep the wind; or is ruler over the day of his death. In war no man's time is free, and evil will not keep the sinner safe.
9. All this have I seen, and have given my heart to all the work which is done under the sun: there is a time when man has power over man for his destruction.
10. And then I saw evil men put to rest, taken even from the holy place; and they went about and were praised in the town because of what they had done. This again is to no purpose.
11. Because punishment for an evil work comes not quickly, the minds of the sons of men are fully given to doing evil.
12. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life is long, I am certain that it will be well for those who go in fear of God and are in fear before him.
13. But it will not be well for the evil-doer; he will not make his days long like a shade, because he has no fear before God.
14. There is a thing which is to no purpose done on the earth: that there are good men to whom is given the same punishment as those who are evil, and there are evil men who get the reward of the good. I say that this again is to no purpose.
15. So I gave praise to joy, because there is nothing better for a man to do under the sun than to take meat and drink and be happy; for that will be with him in his work all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
16. When I gave my mind to the knowledge of wisdom and to seeing the business which is done on the earth (and there are those whose eyes see not sleep by day or by night),
17. Then I saw all the work of God, and that man may not get knowledge of the work which is done under the sun; because, if a man gives hard work to the search he will not get knowledge, and even if the wise man seems to be coming to the end of his search, still he will be without knowledge.

Ecclesiastes 9 / Basic English

1. All this I took to heart, and my heart saw it all: that the upright and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; and men may not be certain if it will be love or hate; all is to no purpose before them.
2. Because to all there is one event, to the upright man and to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him who makes an offering and to him who makes no offering; as is the good so is the sinner; he who takes an oath is as he who has fear of it.
3. This is evil in all things which are done under the sun: that there is one fate for all, and the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; while they have life their hearts are foolish, and after that--to the dead.
4. For him who is joined to all the living there is hope; a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5. The living are conscious that death will come to them, but the dead are not conscious of anything, and they no longer have a reward, because there is no memory of them.
6. Their love and their hate and their envy are now ended; and they have no longer a part for ever in anything which is done under the sun.
7. Come, take your bread with joy, and your wine with a glad heart. God has taken pleasure in your works.
8. Let your clothing be white at all times, and let not your head be without oil.
9. Have joy with the woman of your love all the days of your foolish life which he gives you under the sun. Because that is your part in life and in your work which you do under the sun.
10. Whatever comes to your hand to do with all your power, do it because there is no work, or thought, or knowledge, or wisdom in the place of the dead to which you are going.
11. And again I saw under the sun that the reward goes not to him who is quick, or the fruits of war to the strong; and there is no bread for the wise, or wealth for men of learning, or respect for those who have knowledge; but time and chance come to all.
12. Even man has no knowledge of his time; like fishes taken in an evil net, or like birds taken by deceit, are the sons of men taken in an evil time when it comes suddenly on them.
13. This again I have seen under the sun as wisdom and it seemed great to me.
14. There was a little town and the number of its men was small, and there came a great king against it and made an attack on it, building works of war round about it.
15. Now there was in the town a poor, wise man, and he, by his wisdom, kept the town safe. But no one had any memory of that same poor man.
16. Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is not respected, and his words are not given a hearing.
17. The words of the wise which come quietly to the ear are noted more than the cry of a ruler among the foolish.
18. Wisdom is better than instruments of war, but one sinner is the destruction of much good.

Ecclesiastes 10 / Basic English

1. Dead flies make the oil of the perfumer give out an evil smell; more valued is a little wisdom than the great glory of the foolish.
2. The heart of the wise man goes in the right direction; but the heart of a foolish man in the wrong.
3. And when the foolish man is walking in the way, he has no sense and lets everyone see that he is foolish.
4. If the wrath of the ruler is against you, keep in your place; in him who keeps quiet even great sins may be overlooked.
5. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, like an error which comes by chance from a ruler:
6. The foolish are placed in high positions, but men of wealth are kept low.
7. I have seen servants on horses, and rulers walking on the earth as servants.
8. He who makes a hole for others will himself go into it, and for him who makes a hole through a wall the bite of a snake will be a punishment.
9. He who gets out stones from the earth will be damaged by them, and in the cutting of wood there is danger.
10. If the iron has no edge, and he does not make it sharp, then he has to put out more strength; but wisdom makes things go well.
11. If a snake gives a bite before the word of power is said, then there is no longer any use in the word of power.
12. The words of a wise man's mouth are sweet to all, but the lips of a foolish man are his destruction.
13. The first words of his mouth are foolish, and the end of his talk is evil crime.
14. The foolish are full of words; man has no knowledge of what will be; and who is able to say what will be after him?
15. The work of the foolish will be a weariness to him, because he has no knowledge of the way to the town.
16. Unhappy is the land whose king is a boy, and whose rulers are feasting in the morning.
17. Happy is the land whose ruler is of noble birth, and whose chiefs take food at the right time, for strength and not for feasting.
18. When no work is done the roof goes in, and when the hands do nothing water comes into the house.
19. A feast is for laughing, and wine makes glad the heart; but by the one and the other money is wasted.
20. Say not a curse against the king, even in your thoughts; and even secretly say not a curse against the man of wealth; because a bird of the air will take the voice, and that which has wings will give news of it.

1 Corinthians 7 / Basic English

1. Now, as to the things in your letter to me: It is good for a man to have nothing to do with a woman.
2. But because of the desires of the flesh, let every man have his wife, and every woman her husband.
3. Let the husband give to the wife what is right; and let the wife do the same to the husband.
4. The wife has not power over her body, but the husband; and in the same way the husband has not power over his body, but the wife.
5. Do not keep back from one another what is right, but only for a short time, and by agreement, so that you may give yourselves to prayer, and come together again; so that Satan may not get the better of you through your loss of self-control.
6. But this I say as my opinion, and not as an order of the Lord.
7. It is my desire that all men might be even as I am. But every man has the power of his special way of life given him by God, one in this way and one in that.
8. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, It is good for them to be even as I am.
9. But if they have not self-control let them get married; for married life is better than the burning of desire.
10. But to the married I give orders, though not I but the Lord, that the wife may not go away from her husband
11. (Or if she goes away from him, let her keep unmarried, or be united to her husband again); and that the husband may not go away from his wife.
12. But to the rest I say, and not the Lord; If a brother has a wife who is not a Christian, and it is her desire to go on living with him, let him not go away from her.
13. And if a woman has a husband who is not a Christian, and it is his desire to go on living with her, let her not go away from her husband.
14. For the husband who has not faith is made holy through his Christian wife, and the wife who is not a Christian is made holy through the brother: if not, your children would be unholy, but now are they holy.
15. But if the one who is not a Christian has a desire to go away, let it be so: the brother or the sister in such a position is not forced to do one thing or the other: but it is God's pleasure that we may be at peace with one another.
16. For how may you be certain, O wife, that you will not be the cause of salvation to your husband? or you, O husband, that you may not do the same for your wife?
17. Only, as the Lord has given to a man, and as is the purpose of God for him, so let him go on living. And these are my orders for all the churches.
18. If any man who is a Christian has had circumcision, let him keep so; and if any man who is a Christian has not had circumcision, let him make no change.
19. Circumcision is nothing, and its opposite is nothing, but only doing the orders of God is of value.
20. Let every man keep the position in which he has been placed by God.
21. If you were a servant when you became a Christian, let it not be a grief to you; but if you have a chance to become free, make use of it.
22. For he who was a servant when he became a Christian is the Lord's free man; and he who was free when he became a Christian is the Lord's servant.
23. It is the Lord who has made payment for you: be not servants of men.
24. My brothers, let every man keep in that condition which is the purpose of God for him.
25. Now about virgins I have no orders from the Lord: but I give my opinion as one to whom the Lord has given mercy to be true to him.
26. In my opinion then, because of the present trouble, it is good for a man to keep as he is.
27. If you are married to a wife, make no attempt to get free from her: if you are free from a wife, do not take a wife.
28. If you get married it is not a sin; and if an unmarried woman gets married it is not a sin. But those who do so will have trouble in the flesh. But I will not be hard on you.
29. But I say this, my brothers, the time is short; and from now it will be wise for those who have wives to be as if they had them not;
30. And for those who are in sorrow, to give no signs of it; and for those who are glad, to give no signs of joy; and for those who are getting property, to be as if they had nothing;
31. And for those who make use of the world, not to be using it fully; for this world's way of life will quickly come to an end.
32. But it is my desire for you to be free from cares. The unmarried man gives his mind to the things of the Lord, how he may give pleasure to the Lord:
33. But the married man gives his attention to the things of this world, how he may give pleasure to his wife.
34. And the wife is not the same as the virgin. The virgin gives her mind to the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and in spirit: but the married woman takes thought for the things of the world, how she may give pleasure to her husband.
35. Now I say this for your profit; not to make things hard for you, but because of what is right, and so that you may be able to give all your attention to the things of the Lord.
36. But if, in any man's opinion, he is not doing what is right for his virgin, if she is past her best years, and there is need for it, let him do what seems right to him; it is no sin; let them be married.
37. But the man who is strong in mind and purpose, who is not forced but has control over his desires, does well if he comes to the decision to keep her a virgin.
38. So then, he who gets married to his virgin does well, and he who keeps her unmarried does better.
39. It is right for a wife to be with her husband as long as he is living; but when her husband is dead, she is free to be married to another; but only to a Christian.
40. But it will be better for her to keep as she is, in my opinion: and it seems to me that I have the Spirit of God.