Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Isaiah 45 / Basic English

1. The Lord says to the man of his selection, to Cyrus, whom I have taken by the right hand, putting down nations before him, and taking away the arms of kings; making the doors open before him, so that the ways into the towns may not be shut;
2. I will go before you, and make the rough places level: the doors of brass will be broken, and the iron rods cut in two:
3. And I will give you the stores of the dark, and the wealth of secret places, so that you may be certain that I am the Lord, who gave you your name, even the God of Israel.
4. Because of Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have taken for myself, I have sent for you by name, giving you a name of honour, though you had no knowledge of me.
5. I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God but me: I will make you ready for war, though you had no knowledge of me:
6. So that they may see from the east and from the west that there is no God but me: I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7. I am the giver of light and the maker of the dark; causing blessing, and sending troubles; I am the Lord, who does all these things.
8. Let righteousness come down, O heavens, from on high, and let the sky send it down like rain: let the earth be open to give the fruit of salvation, causing righteousness to come up with it; I the Lord have made it come about.
9. Cursed is he who has an argument with his Maker, the pot which has an argument with the Potter! Will the wet earth say to him who is working with it, What are you doing, that your work has nothing by which it may be gripped?
10. Cursed is he who says to a father, To what are you giving life? or to a woman, What are you in birth-pains with?
11. The Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, says, Will you put a question to me about the things which are to come, or will you give me orders about my sons, and the work of my hands?
12. I have made the earth, forming man on it: by my hands the heavens have been stretched out, and all the stars put in their ordered places.
13. I have sent him out to overcome the nations, and I will make all his ways straight: I will give him the work of building my town, and he will let my prisoners go free, without price or reward, says the Lord of armies.
14. The Lord says, The workmen of Egypt, and the traders of Ethiopia, and the tall Sabaeans, will come over the sea to you, and they will be yours; they will go after you; in chains they will come over: and they will go down on their faces before you, and will make prayer to you, saying, Truly, God is among you; and there is no other God.
15. Truly, you have a secret God, the God of Israel is a Saviour!
16. All those who have gone against him will be put to shame; the makers of images will be made low.
17. But the Lord will make Israel free with an eternal salvation: you will not be put to shame or made low for ever and ever.
18. For this is the word of the Lord who made the heavens; he is God; the maker and designer of the earth; who made it not to be a waste, but as a living-place for man: I am the Lord, and there is no other.
19. I have not given my word in secret, in a place in the underworld; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, Go into a waste land to make request of me: I the Lord say what is true, my word is righteousness.
20. Come together, even come near, you nations who are still living: they have no knowledge who take up their image of wood, and make prayer to a god in whom is no salvation.
21. Give the word, put forward your cause, let us have a discussion together: who has given news of this in the past? who made it clear in early times? did not I, the Lord? and there is no God but me; a true God and a saviour; there is no other.
22. Let your hearts be turned to me, so that you may have salvation, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other.
23. By myself have I taken an oath, a true word has gone from my mouth, and will not be changed, that to me every knee will be bent, and every tongue will give honour.
24. Only in the Lord will Jacob overcome and be strong: together all those who were angry with him will be put to shame and come to destruction.
25. In the Lord will all the seed of Israel get their rights, and they will give glory to him.

Isaiah 46 / Basic English

1. Bel is bent down, Nebo is falling; their images are on the beasts and on the cattle: the things which you took about have become a weight to the tired beast.
2. They are bent down, they are falling together: they were not able to keep their images safe, but they themselves have been taken prisoner.
3. Give ear to me, O family of Jacob, and all the rest of the people of Israel, who have been supported by me from their birth, and have been my care from their earliest days:
4. Even when you are old I will be the same, and when you are grey-haired I will take care of you: I will still be responsible for what I made; yes, I will take you and keep you safe.
5. Who in your eyes is my equal? or what comparison will you make with me?
6. As for those who take gold out of a bag, and put silver in the scales, they give payment to a gold-worker, to make it into a god; they go down on their faces and give it worship.
7. They put him on their backs, and take him up, and put him in his fixed place, from which he may not be moved; if a man gives a cry for help to him, he is unable to give an answer, or get him out of his trouble.
8. Keep this in mind and be shamed; let it come back to your memory, you sinners.
9. Let the things which are past come to your memory: for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me;
10. Making clear from the first what is to come, and from past times the things which have not so far come about; saying, My purpose is fixed, and I will do all my pleasure;
11. Sending for a bird of strong flight from the east, the man of my purpose from a far country; I have said it, and I will give effect to it; the thing designed by me will certainly be done.
12. Give ear to me, you feeble-hearted, who have no faith in my righteousness:
13. My righteousness is near, it is not far off; salvation will come quickly; and I will make Zion free, and give Israel my glory.

Isaiah 47 / Basic English

1. Come and take your seat in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; come down from your seat of power, and take your place on the earth, O daughter of the Chaldaeans: for you will never again seem soft and delicate.
2. Take the crushing-stones and get the meal crushed: take off your veil, put away your robe, let your legs be uncovered, go through the rivers.
3. The shame of your unclothed condition will be seen by all: I will give punishment without mercy,
4. Says the Lord who takes up our cause; the Lord of armies is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
5. Be seated in the dark without a word, O daughter of the Chaldaeans: for you will no longer be named, The Queen of Kingdoms.
6. I was angry with my people, I put shame on my heritage, and gave them into your hands: you had no mercy on them; you put a cruel yoke on those who were old;
7. And you said, I will be a queen for ever: you did not give attention to these things, and did not keep in mind what would come after.
8. So now take note of this, you who are given up to pleasure, living without fear of evil, saying in your heart, I am, and there is no one like me; I will never be a widow, or have my children taken from me.
9. But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day, the loss of children and of husband: in full measure they will come on you, for all your secret arts, and all your wonders.
10. For you had faith in your evil-doing; you said, No one sees me; by your wisdom and knowledge you have been turned out of the way: and you have said in your heart, I am, and there is no other.
11. Because of this evil will come on you, which may not be turned away for any price: and trouble will overtake you, from which no money will give salvation: destruction will come on you suddenly, without your knowledge.
12. Go on now with your secret arts, and all your wonder-working, to which you have given yourself up from your earliest days; it may be that they will be of profit to you, or by them you may put fear into your attackers.
13. But your mind is troubled by the number of your guides: let them now come forward for your salvation: the measurers of the heavens, the watchers of the stars, and those who are able to say from month to month what things are coming on you.
14. Truly, they have become like dry stems, they have been burned in the fire; they are not able to keep themselves safe from the power of the flame: it is not a coal for warming them, or a fire by which a man may be seated.
15. Small profit have you had from those who, from your earliest days, got great profit out of you; they have gone in flight, every one straight before him, and you have no saviour.

Galatians 1 / Basic English

1. Paul, an Apostle (not from men, and not through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who made him come back from the dead),
2. And all the brothers who are with me, to the churches of Galatia:
3. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,
4. Who gave himself for our sins, so that he might make us free from this present evil world, after the purpose of our God and Father:
5. To whom be the glory for ever and ever. So be it.
6. I am surprised that you are being so quickly turned away from him whose word came to you in the grace of Christ, to good news of a different sort;
7. Which is not another sort: only there are some who give you trouble, desiring to make changes in the good news of Christ.
8. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, were to be a preacher to you of good news other than that which we have given you, let there be a curse on him.
9. As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man is a preacher to you of any good news other than that which has been given to you, let there be a curse on him.
10. Am I now using arguments to men, or God? or is it my desire to give men pleasure? if I was still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
11. Because I say to you, my brothers, that the good news of which I was the preacher is not man's.
12. For I did not get it from man, and I was not given teaching in it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ.
13. For news has come to you of my way of life in the past in the Jews' religion, how I was cruel without measure to the church of God, and did great damage to it:
14. And I went farther in the Jews' religion than a number of my generation among my countrymen, having a more burning interest in the beliefs handed down from my fathers.
15. But when it was the good pleasure of God, by whom I was marked out even from my mother's body, through his grace,
16. To give the revelation of his Son in me, so that I might give the news of him to the Gentiles; then I did not take the opinion of flesh and blood,
17. And I went not up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and again I came back to Damascus.
18. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Cephas, and was there with him fifteen days.
19. But of the other Apostles I saw only James, the Lord's brother.
20. Now God is witness that the things which I am writing to you are true.
21. Then I came to the parts of Syria and Cilicia.
22. And the churches of Judaea which were in Christ still had no knowledge of my face or person:
23. Only it came to their ears that he who at one time was cruel to us is now preaching the faith which before had been attacked by him;
24. And they gave glory to God in me.