Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Isaiah 23 / Basic English

1. The word about Tyre. Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish, because your strong place is made waste; on the way back from the land of Kittim the news is given to them.
2. Send out a cry of grief, you men of the sea-land, traders of Zidon, who go over the sea, whose representatives are on great waters;
3. Who get in the seed of Shihor, whose wealth is the trade of the nations.
4. Be shamed, O Zidon: for the sea, the strong place of the sea has said, I have not been with child, or given birth; I have not taken care of young men, or kept watch over the growth of virgins.
5. When the news comes to Egypt they will be bitterly pained at the fate of Tyre.
6. Go over to Tarshish; give cries of sorrow, O men of the sea-land.
7. Is this the town which was full of joy, whose start goes back to times long past, whose wanderings took her into far-off countries?
8. By whom was this purposed against Tyre, the crowning town, whose traders are chiefs, whose business men are honoured in the land?
9. It was the purpose of the Lord of armies to put pride to shame, to make sport of the glory of those who are honoured in the earth.
10. Let your land be worked with the plough, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer any harbour.
11. His hand is stretched out over the sea, the kingdoms are shaking: the Lord has given orders about Canaan, to make waste its strong places.
12. And he said, There is no more joy for you, O crushed virgin daughter of Zidon: up! go over to Kittim; even there you will have no rest.
13. ...
14. Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish: because your strong place is made waste.
15. And it will be in that day that Tyre will go out of mind for seventy years, that is, the days of one king: after the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre as in the song of the loose woman.
16. Take an instrument of music, go about the town, O loose woman who has gone out from the memory of man; make sweet melody with songs, so that you may come back to men's minds.
17. And it will be after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will have mercy on Tyre, and she will go back to her trade, acting as a loose woman with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.
18. And her goods and her trade will be holy to the Lord: they will not be kept back or stored up; for her produce will be for those living in the Lord's land, to give them food for their needs, and fair clothing.

Isaiah 24 / Basic English

1. See, the Lord is making the earth waste and unpeopled, he is turning it upside down, and sending the people in all directions.
2. And it will be the same for the people as for the priest; for the servant as for his master; and for the woman-servant as for her owner; the same for the one offering goods for a price as for him who takes them; the same for him who gives money at interest and for him who takes it; the same for him who lets others have the use of his property as for those who make use of it.
3. The earth will be completely waste and without men; for this is the word of the Lord.
4. The earth is sorrowing and wasting away, the world is full of grief and wasting away, the high ones of the earth come to nothing.
5. The earth has been made unclean by those living in it; because the laws have not been kept by them, the orders have been changed, and the eternal agreement has been broken.
6. For this cause the earth is given up to the curse, and those in it are judged as sinners: for this cause those living on the earth are burned up, and the rest are small in number.
7. The new wine is thin, the vine is feeble, and all the glad-hearted make sounds of grief.
8. The pleasing sound of all instruments of music has come to an end, and the voices of those who are glad.
9. There is no more drinking of wine with a song; strong drink will be bitter to those who take it.
10. The town is waste and broken down: every house is shut up, so that no man may come in.
11. There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; there is an end of all delight, the joy of the land is gone.
12. In the town all is waste, and in the public place is destruction.
13. For it will be in the heart of the earth among the peoples, like the shaking of an olive-tree, as the last of the grapes after the getting-in is done.
14. But those will be making sounds of joy; they will be crying loudly from the sea for the glory of the Lord.
15. Give praise to the Lord in the east, to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the sea-lands.
16. From the farthest part of the earth comes the sound of songs, glory to the upright. But I said, I am wasting away, wasting away, the curse is on me! The false ones go on in their false way, yes, they go on acting falsely.
17. Fear, and death, and the net, are come on you, O people of the earth.
18. And it will be that he who goes in flight from the sound of fear will be overtaken by death; and he who gets free from death will be taken in the net: for the windows on high are open, and the bases of the earth are shaking.
19. The earth is completely broken, it is parted in two, it is violently moved.
20. The earth will be moving uncertainly, like a man overcome by drink; it will be shaking like a tent; and the weight of its sin will be on it, crushing it down so that it will not get up again.
21. And in that day the Lord will send punishment on the army of the high ones on high, and on the kings of the earth on the earth.
22. And they will be got together, like prisoners in the prison-house; and after a long time they will have their punishment.
23. Then the moon will be veiled, and the sun put to shame; for the Lord of armies will be ruling in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his judges he will let his glory be seen.

2 Corinthians 4 / Basic English

1. For this reason, because we have been made servants of this new order, through the mercy given to us, we are strong:
2. And we have given up the secret things of shame, not walking in false ways, and not making use of the word of God with deceit; but by the revelation of what is true, as before God, we have the approval of every man's sense of right and wrong.
3. But if our good news is veiled, it is veiled from those who are on the way to destruction:
4. Because the god of this world has made blind the minds of those who have not faith, so that the light of the good news of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not be shining on them.
5. For our preaching is not about ourselves, but about Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants through Jesus.
6. Seeing that it is God who said, Let light be shining out of the dark, who has put in our hearts the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7. But we have this wealth in vessels of earth, so that it may be seen that the power comes not from us but from God;
8. Troubles are round us on every side, but we are not shut in; things are hard for us, but we see a way out of them;
9. We are cruelly attacked, but not without hope; we are made low, but we are not without help;
10. In our bodies there is ever the mark of the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be seen in our bodies.
11. For, while living, we are still being given up to death because of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be seen in our flesh, though it is under the power of death.
12. So then, death is working in us, but life in you.
13. But having the same spirit of faith, as it is said in the Writings, The words of my mouth came from the faith in my heart; in the same way, our words are the outcome of our faith;
14. Because we are certain that he who made the Lord Jesus come back from the dead, will do the same for us, and will give us a place in his glory with you.
15. For we go through all things on account of you, because the greater the number to whom the grace is given, the greater is the praise to the glory of God.
16. For which cause we do not give way to weariness; but though our outer man is getting feebler, our inner man is made new day by day.
17. For our present trouble, which is only for a short time, is working out for us a much greater weight of glory;
18. While our minds are not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are for a time; but the things which are not seen are eternal.