Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Ezekiel 3 / Basic English

1. And he said to me, Son of man, take this roll for your food, and go and say my words to the children of Israel.
2. And, on my opening my mouth, he made me take the roll as food.
3. And he said to me, Son of man, let your stomach make a meal of it and let your inside be full of this roll which I am giving you. Then I took it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.
4. And he said to me, Son of man, go now to the children of Israel, and say my words to them.
5. For you are not sent to a people whose talk is strange and whose language is hard, but to the children of Israel;
6. Not to a number of peoples whose talk is strange and whose language is hard and whose words are not clear to you. Truly, if I sent you to them they would give ear to you.
7. But the children of Israel will not give ear to you; for they have no mind to give ear to me: for all the children of Israel have a hard brow and a stiff heart.
8. See, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your brow hard against their brows.
9. Like a diamond harder than rock I have made your brow: have no fear of them and do not be overcome by their looks, for they are an uncontrolled people.
10. Then he said to me, Son of man, take into your heart all my words which I am about to say to you, and let your ears be open to them.
11. And go now to those who have been taken away as prisoners, to the children of your people, and say to them, This is what the Lord has said; if they give ear or if they do not.
12. Then I was lifted up by the wind, and at my back the sound of a great rushing came to my ears when the glory of the Lord was lifted up from his place.
13. And there was the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another, and the sound of the wheels at their side, the sound of a great rushing.
14. And the wind, lifting me up, took me away: and I went in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of the Lord was strong on me.
15. Then I came to those who had been taken away as prisoners, who were at Telabib by the river Chebar, and I was seated among them full of wonder for seven days.
16. And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
17. Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the children of Israel: so give ear to the word of my mouth, and give them word from me of their danger.
18. When I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly be your fate; and you give him no word of it and say nothing to make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his evil way, so that he may be safe; that same evil man will come to death in his evil-doing; but I will make you responsible for his blood.
19. But if you give the evil-doer word of his danger, and he is not turned from his sin or from his evil way, death will overtake him in his evil-doing; but your life will be safe.
20. Again, when an upright man, turning away from his righteousness, does evil, and I put a cause of falling in his way, death will overtake him: because you have given him no word of his danger, death will overtake him in his evil-doing, and there will be no memory of the upright acts which he has done; but I will make you responsible for his blood.
21. But if you say to the upright man that he is not to do evil, he will certainly keep his life because he took note of your word; and your life will be safe.
22. And the hand of the Lord was on me there; and he said, Get up and go out into the valley and there I will have talk with you.
23. Then I got up and went out into the valley; and I saw the glory of the Lord resting there as I had seen it by the river Chebar; and I went down on my face.
24. Then the spirit came into me and put me on my feet; and he had talk with me and said to me, Go and keep yourself shut up inside your house.
25. But see, O son of man, I will put bands on you, prisoning you in them, and you will not go out among them:
26. And I will make your tongue fixed to the roof of your mouth, so that you have no voice and may not make protests to them: for they are an uncontrolled people.
27. But when I have talk with you I will make your mouth open, and you are to say to them, This is what the Lord has said: Let the hearer give ear; and as for him who will not, let him keep his ears shut: for they are an uncontrolled people.

Ezekiel 4 / Basic English

1. And you, son of man, take a back and put it before you and on it make a picture of a town, even Jerusalem.
2. And make an attack on it, shutting it in, building strong places against it, and making high an earthwork against it; and put up tents against it, placing engines all round it for smashing down its walls.
3. And take a flat iron plate, and put it for a wall of iron between you and the town: and let your face be turned to it, and it will be shut in and you will make an attack on it. This will be a sign to the children of Israel.
4. Then, stretching yourself out on your left side, take the sin of the children of Israel on yourself: for as long as you are stretched out, so long will the sin of the children of Israel be on you.
5. For I have had the years of their sin measured for you by a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days: and you will take on yourself the sin of the children of Israel.
6. And when these days are ended, turning on your right side, you are to take on yourself the sin of the children of Judah: forty days, a day for a year, I have had it fixed for you.
7. And let your face be turned to where Jerusalem is shut in, with your arm uncovered, and be a prophet against it.
8. And see, I will put bands on you; and you will be stretched out without turning from one side to the other till the days of your attack are ended.
9. And take for yourself wheat and barley and different sorts of grain, and put them in one vessel and make bread for yourself from them; all the days when you are stretched on your side it will be your food.
10. And you are to take your food by weight, twenty shekels a day: you are to take it at regular times.
11. And you are to take water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: you are to take it at regular times.
12. And let your food be barley cakes, cooking it before their eyes with the waste which comes out of a man.
13. And the Lord said, Even so the children of Israel will have unclean bread for their food among the nations where I am driving them.
14. Then I said, Ah, Lord! see, my soul has never been unclean, and I have never taken as my food anything which has come to a natural death or has been broken by beasts, from the time when I was young even till now; no disgusting flesh has ever come into my mouth.
15. Then he said to me, See, I have given you cow's waste in place of man's waste, and you will make your bread ready on it.
16. And he said to me, Son of man, see, I will take away from Jerusalem her necessary bread: they will take their bread by weight and with care, measuring out their drinking-water with fear and wonder:
17. So that they may be in need of bread and water and be wondering at one another, wasting away in their sin.

2 Timothy 4 / Basic English

1. I give you orders, before God and Christ Jesus, who will be the judge of the living and the dead, and by his revelation and his kingdom;
2. Be preaching the word at all times, in every place; make protests, say sharp words, give comfort, with long waiting and teaching;
3. For the time will come when they will not take the true teaching; but, moved by their desires, they will get for themselves a great number of teachers for the pleasure of hearing them;
4. And shutting their ears to what is true, will be turned away to belief in foolish stories.
5. But be self-controlled in all things, do without comfort, go on preaching the good news, completing the work which has been given you to do.
6. For I am even now being offered, and my end is near.
7. I have made a good fight, I have come to the end of my journey, I have kept the faith:
8. From now on, the crown of righteousness is made ready for me, which the Lord, the upright judge, Will give to me at that day: and not only to me, but to all those who have had love for his revelation.
9. Do your best to come to me before long:
10. For Demas has gone away from me, for love of this present life, and has gone to Thessalonica: Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.
11. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and take him with you; for he is of use to me in the work.
12. Tychicus I sent to Ephesus.
13. The coat which I did not take from Troas and which is with Carpus, get when you come, and the books, specially the papers.
14. Alexander the copper-worker did me much wrong: the Lord will give him the reward of his works:
15. But be on the watch for him, for he was violent in his attacks on our teaching.
16. At my first meeting with my judges, no one took my part, but all went away from me. May it not be put to their account.
17. But the Lord was by my side and gave me strength; so that through me the news might be given out in full measure, and all the Gentiles might give ear: and I was taken out of the mouth of the lion.
18. The Lord will keep me safe from every evil work and will give me salvation in his kingdom in heaven: to whom be glory for ever and ever. So be it.
19. Give my love to Prisca and Aquila and those of the house of Onesiphorus.
20. Erastus was stopping at Corinth; but Trophimus, when I last saw him was at Miletus, ill.
21. Do your best to come before the winter. Eubulus sends you his love, and Pudens and Linus and Claudia, and all the brothers.
22. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.