Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Isaiah 34 / Basic English

1. Come near, you nations, and give ear; take note, you peoples: let the earth and everything in it give ear; the world and all those living in it.
2. For the Lord is angry with all the nations, and his wrath is burning against all their armies: he has put them to the curse, he has given them to destruction.
3. Their dead bodies will be thick on the face of the earth, and their smell will come up, and the mountains will be flowing with their blood, and all the hills will come to nothing.
4. And the heavens will be rolled together like the roll of a book: and all their army will be gone, like a dead leaf from the vine, or a dry fruit from the fig-tree.
5. For my sword in heaven is full of wrath: see, it is coming down on Edom, in punishment on the people of my curse.
6. The sword of the Lord is full of blood, it is fat with the best of the meat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the best parts of the sheep: for the Lord has a feast in Bozrah, and much cattle will be put to death in the land of Edom.
7. And the strong oxen will go down to death together with the smaller cattle.
8. For it is the day of the Lord's punishment, when he gives payment for the wrongs done to Zion.
9. And its streams will be turned into boiling oil, and its dust into burning stone, and all the land will be on fire.
10. It will not be put out day or night; its smoke will go up for ever: it will be waste from generation to generation; no one will go through it for ever.
11. But the birds of the waste land will have their place there; it will be a heritage for the bittern and the raven: and it will be measured out with line and weight as a waste land.
12. The jackals will be there, and her great ones will be gone; they will say, There is no longer a kingdom there, and all her chiefs will have come to an end.
13. And thorns will come up in her fair houses, and waste plants in her strong towers: and foxes will make their holes there, and it will be a meeting-place for ostriches.
14. And the beasts of the waste places will come together with the jackals, and the evil spirits will be crying to one another, even the night-spirit will come and make her resting-place there.
15. The arrowsnake will make her hole and put her eggs there, and get her young together under her shade: there the hawks will come together by twos.
16. See what is recorded in the book of the Lord: all these will be there, not one without the other: the mouth of the Lord has given the order, and his spirit has made them come together.
17. And he has given them their heritage, and by his hand it has been measured out to them: it will be theirs for ever, their resting-place from generation to generation.

Isaiah 35 / Basic English

1. The waste land and the dry places will be glad; the lowland will have joy and be full of flowers.
2. It will be flowering like the rose; it will be full of delight and songs; the glory of Lebanon will be given to it; the pride of Carmel and Sharon: they will see the glory of the Lord, the power of our God.
3. Make strong the feeble hands, give support to the shaking knees.
4. Say to those who are full of fear, Be strong and take heart: see, your God will give punishment; the reward of God will come; he himself will come to be your saviour.
5. Then the eyes of the blind will see, and the ears which are stopped will be open.
6. Then will the feeble-footed be jumping like a roe, and the voice which was stopped will be loud in song: for in the waste land streams will be bursting out, and waters in the dry places.
7. And the burning sand will become a pool, and the dry earth springs of waters: the fields where the sheep take their food will become wet land, and water-plants will take the place of grass.
8. And a highway will be there; its name will be, The Holy Way; the unclean and the sinner may not go over it, and those who go on it will not be turned out of the way by the foolish.
9. No lion will be there, or any cruel beast; they will not be seen there; but those for whom the Lord has given a price,
10. Even those whom he has made free, will come back again; they will come with songs to Zion; on their heads will be eternal joy; delight and joy will be theirs, and sorrow and sounds of grief will be gone for ever.

Isaiah 36 / Basic English

1. And it came about in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the walled towns of Judah and took them.
2. And the king of Assyria sent the Rab-shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a strong force, and he took up his position by the stream of the higher pool, by the highway of the washerman's
3. And there came out to him Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder.
4. And the Rab-shakeh said to them, Say now to Hezekiah, These are the words of the great king, the king of Assyria: In what are you placing your hope?
5. You say you have a design and strength for war, but these are only words: now to whom are you looking for support, that you have gone against my authority?
6. See, you are basing your hope on that broken rod of Egypt, which will go into a man's hand if he makes use of it for a support; for so is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all who put their faith in him.
7. And if you say to me, Our hope is in the Lord our God; is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and Jerusalem that worship may only be given before this altar?
8. And now, take a chance with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them.
9. How then may you put to shame the least of my master's servants? and you have put your hope in Egypt for war-carriages and horsemen:
10. And have I now come to send destruction on this land without the Lord's authority? It was the Lord himself who said to me, Go up against this land and make it waste.
11. Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rab-shakeh, Please make use of the Aramaean language in talking to your servants, for we are used to it, and do not make use of the Jews' language in the hearing of the people on the wall.
12. But the Rab-shakeh said, Is it to your master or to you that my master has sent me to say these words? has he not sent me to the men seated on the wall? for they are the people who will be short of food with you when the town is shut in.
13. Then the Rab-shakeh got up and said with a loud voice in the Jews' language, Give ear to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria:
14. This is what the king says: Do not be tricked by Hezekiah, for there is no salvation for you in him.
15. And do not let Hezekiah make you put your faith in the Lord, saying, The Lord will certainly keep us safe, and this town will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.
16. Do not give ear to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says, Make peace with me, and come out to me; and everyone will be free to take the fruit of his vine and of his fig-tree, and the water of his spring;
17. Till I come and take you away to a land like yours, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vine-gardens.
18. Give no attention to Hezekiah when he says to you, The Lord will keep us safe. Has any one of the gods of the nations kept his land from falling into the hands of the king of Assyria?
19. Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? where are the gods of Samaria? and have they kept Samaria out of my hand?
20. Who among all the gods of these countries have kept their country from falling into my hand, to give cause for the thought that the Lord will keep Jerusalem from falling into my hand?
21. But they kept quiet and gave him no answer: for the king's order was, Give him no answer.
22. Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothing parted as a sign of grief, and gave him an account of what the Rab-shakeh had said.

2 Corinthians 9 / Basic English

1. But there is no need for me to say anything in my letter about the giving to the saints:
2. For I have before made clear to those of Macedonia my pride in your ready mind, saying to them that Achaia has been ready for a year back; and a great number have been moved to do the same by your example.
3. But I have sent the brothers, so that the good things we said about you may be seen to be true, and that, as I said, you may be ready:
4. For fear that, if any from Macedonia come with me, and you are not ready, we (not to say, you) might be put to shame in this thing.
5. So it seemed to me wise for the brothers to go before, and see that the amount which you had undertaken to give was ready, so that it might be a cause for praise, and not as if we were making profit out of you.
6. But in the Writings it says, He who puts in only a small number of seeds, will get in the same; and he who puts them in from a full hand, will have produce in full measure from them.
7. Let every man do after the purpose of his heart; not giving with grief, or by force: for God takes pleasure in a ready giver.
8. And God is able to give you all grace in full measure; so that ever having enough of all things, you may be full of every good work:
9. As it is said in the Writings, He has sent out far and wide, he has given to the poor; his righteousness is for ever.
10. And he who gives seed for putting into the field and bread for food, will take care of the growth of your seed, at the same time increasing the fruits of your righteousness;
11. Your wealth being increased in everything, with a simple mind, causing praise to God through us.
12. For this work of giving not only takes care of the needs of the saints, but is the cause of much praise to God;
13. For when, through this work of giving, they see what you are, they give glory to God for the way in which you have given yourselves to the good news of Christ, and for the wealth of your giving to them and to all;
14. While their hearts go out to you in love and in prayer for you, because of the great grace of God which is in you.
15. Praise be to God for what he has given, which words have no power to say.