Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

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reading for the day 29/01/2024 ; previous day - next day ; back to index ;

Genesis 50 / Basic English



1. And Joseph put his head down on his father's face, weeping and kissing him.
2. And Joseph gave orders to his servants who had the necessary knowledge, to make his father's body ready, folding it in linen with spices, and they did so.
3. And the forty days needed for making the body ready went by: and there was weeping for him among the Egyptians for seventy days.
4. And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph said to the servants of Pharaoh, If now you have love for me, say these words to Pharaoh:
5. My father made me take an oath, saying, When I am dead, put me to rest in the place I have made ready for myself in the land of Canaan. So now let me go and put my father in his last resting-place, and I will come back again.
6. And Pharaoh said, Go up and put your father to rest, as you gave your oath to him.
7. So Joseph went up to put his father in his last resting-place; and with him went all the servants of Pharaoh, and the chief men of his house and all the chiefs of the land of Egypt,
8. And all the family of Joseph, and his brothers and his father's people: only their little ones and their flocks and herds they did not take with them from the land of Goshen.
9. And carriages went up with him and horsemen, a great army.
10. And they came to the grain-floor of Atad on the other side of Jordan, and there they gave the last honours to Jacob, with great and bitter sorrow, weeping for their father for seven days.
11. And when the people of the land, the people of Canaan, at the grain-floor of Atad, saw their grief, they said, Great is the grief of the Egyptians: so the place was named Abel-mizraim, on the other side of Jordan.
12. So his sons did as he had given them orders to do:
13. For they took him into the land of Canaan and put him to rest in the hollow rock in the field of Machpelah, which Abraham got with the field, for a resting-place, from Ephron the Hittite at Mamre.
14. And when his father had been put to rest, Joseph and his brothers and all who had gone with him, went back to Egypt.
15. Now after the death of their father, Joseph's brothers said to themselves, It may be that Joseph's heart will be turned against us, and he will give us punishment for all the evil which we did to him.
16. So they sent word to Joseph, saying, Your father, before his death, gave us orders, saying,
17. You are to say to Joseph, Let the wrongdoing of your brothers be overlooked, and the evil they did to you: now, if it is your pleasure, let the sin of the servants of your father's God have forgiveness. And at these words, Joseph was overcome with weeping.
18. Then his brothers went, and falling at his feet, said, Truly, we are your servants.
19. And Joseph said, Have no fear: am I in the place of God?
20. As for you, it was in your mind to do me evil, but God has given a happy outcome, the salvation of numbers of people, as you see today.
21. So now, have no fear: for I will take care of you and your little ones. So he gave them comfort with kind words.
22. Now Joseph and all his father's family went on living in Egypt: and the years of Joseph's life were a hundred and ten.
23. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: and the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, came to birth on Joseph's knees.
24. Then Joseph said to his brothers, The time of my death has come; but God will keep you in mind and take you out of this land into the land which he gave by his oath to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
25. Then Joseph made the children of Israel take an oath, saying, God will certainly give effect to his word, and you are to take my bones away from here.
26. So Joseph came to his death, being a hundred and ten years old: and they made his body ready, and he was put in a chest in Egypt.

Exodus 1 / Basic English



1. Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt; every man and his family came with Jacob.
2. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
3. Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
4. Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5. All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons: and Joseph had come to Egypt before them.
6. Then Joseph came to his end, and all his brothers, and all that generation.
7. And the children of Israel were fertile, increasing very greatly in numbers and in power; and the land was full of them.
8. Now a new king came to power in Egypt, who had no knowledge of Joseph.
9. And he said to his people, See, the people of Israel are greater in number and in power than we are:
10. Let us take care for fear that their numbers may become even greater, and if there is a war, they may be joined with those who are against us, and make an attack on us, and go up out of the land.
11. So they put overseers of forced work over them, in order to make their strength less by the weight of their work. And they made store-towns for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses.
12. But the more cruel they were to them, the more their number increased, till all the land was full of them. And the children of Israel were hated by the Egyptians.
13. And they gave the children of Israel even harder work to do:
14. And made their lives bitter with hard work, making building-material and bricks, and doing all sorts of work in the fields under the hardest conditions.
15. And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew women who gave help at the time of childbirth (the name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah),
16. When you are looking after the Hebrew women in childbirth, if it is a son you are to put him to death; but if it is a daughter, she may go on living.
17. But the women had the fear of God, and did not do as the king of Egypt said, but let the male children go on living.
18. And the king of Egypt sent for the women, and said to them, Why have you done this, and let the male children go on living?
19. And they said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are strong, and the birth takes place before we come to them.
20. And the blessing of God was on these women: and the people were increased in number and became very strong.
21. And because the women who took care of the Hebrew mothers had the fear of God, he gave them families.
22. And Pharaoh gave orders to all his people, saying, Every son who comes to birth is to be put into the river, but every daughter may go on living.

Psalms 1 / Basic English



1. Happy is the man who does not go in the company of sinners, or take his place in the way of evil-doers, or in the seat of those who do not give honour to the Lord.
2. But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and whose mind is on his law day and night.
3. He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which gives its fruit at the right time, whose leaves will ever be green; and he will do well in all his undertakings.
4. The evil-doers are not so; but are like the dust from the grain, which the wind takes away.
5. For this cause there will be no mercy for sinners when they are judged, and the evil-doers will have no place among the upright,
6. Because the Lord sees the way of the upright, but the end of the sinner is destruction.

Psalms 2 / Basic English



1. Why are the nations so violently moved, and why are the thoughts of the people so foolish?
2. The kings of the earth have taken their place, and the rulers are fixed in their purpose, against the Lord, and against the king of his selection, saying,
3. Let their chains be broken, and their cords taken from off us.
4. Then he whose seat is in the heavens will be laughing: the Lord will make sport of them.
5. Then will his angry words come to their ears, and by his wrath they will be troubled:
6. But I have put my king on my holy hill of Zion.
7. I will make clear the Lord's decision: he has said to me, You are my son, this day have I given you being.
8. Make your request to me, and I will give you the nations for your heritage, and the farthest limits of the earth will be under your hand.
9. They will be ruled by you with a rod of iron; they will be broken like a potter's vessel.
10. So now be wise, you kings: take his teaching, you judges of the earth.
11. Give worship to the Lord with fear, kissing his feet and giving him honour,
12. For fear that he may be angry, causing destruction to come on you, because he is quickly moved to wrath. Happy are all those who put their faith in him.