Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Exodus 13 / Basic English

1. And the Lord said to Moses,
2. Let the first male child of every mother among the children of Israel be kept holy for me, even the first male birth among man or beast; for it is mine.
3. And Moses said to the people, Let this day, on which you came out of Egypt, out of your prison-house, be kept for ever in memory; for by the strength of his hand the Lord has taken you out from this place; let no leavened bread be used.
4. On this day, in the month Abib, you are going out.
5. And it will be that, when the Lord takes you into the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, the land which he made an oath to your fathers that he would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you will do this act of worship in this month.
6. For seven days let your food be unleavened cakes; and on the seventh day there is to be a feast to the Lord.
7. Unleavened cakes are to be your food through all the seven days; let no leavened bread be seen among you, or any leaven, in any part of your land.
8. And you will say to your son in that day, It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.
9. And this will be for a sign to you on your hand and for a mark on your brow, so that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth: for with a strong hand the Lord took you out of Egypt.
10. So let this order be kept, at the right time, from year to year.
11. And when the Lord takes you into the land of Canaan, as he made his oath to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you,
12. You are to put on one side for the Lord every mother's first male child, the first-fruit of her body, and the first young one of every beast; every male is holy to the Lord.
13. And for the young of an ass you may give a lamb in payment, or if you will not make payment for it, its neck is to be broken; but for all the first sons among your children, let payment be made.
14. And when your son says to you in time to come, What is the reason for this? say to him, By the strength of his hand the Lord took us out of Egypt, out of the prison-house:
15. And when Pharaoh made his heart hard and would not let us go, the Lord sent death on all the first sons in Egypt, of man and of beast: and so every first male who comes to birth is offered to the Lord; but for all the first of my sons I give a price.
16. And this will be for a sign on your hand and for a mark on your brow: for by the strength of his hand the Lord took us out of Egypt.
17. Now after Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not take them through the land of the Philistines, though that was near: for God said, If the people see war, they may have a change of heart and go back to Egypt.
18. But God took the people round by the waste land near the Red Sea: and the children of Israel went up in fighting order out of the land of Egypt.
19. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the children of Israel take an oath, saying, God will certainly keep you in mind; and you are to take my bones away with you.
20. Then they went on their journey from Succoth, and put up their tents in Etham at the edge of the waste land.
21. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, guiding them on their way; and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light: so that they were able to go on day and night:
22. The pillar of cloud went ever before them by day, and the pillar of fire by night.

Exodus 14 / Basic English

1. And the Lord said to Moses,
2. Give orders to the children of Israel to go back and put up their tents before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon, opposite to which you are to put up your tents by the sea.
3. And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are wandering without direction, they are shut in by the waste land.
4. And I will make Pharaoh's heart hard, and he will come after them and I will be honoured over Pharaoh and all his army, so that the Egyptians may see that I am the Lord. And they did so.
5. And word came to Pharaoh of the flight of the people: and the feeling of Pharaoh and of his servants about the people was changed, and they said, Why have we let Israel go, so that they will do no more work for us?
6. So he had his war-carriage made ready and took his people with him:
7. And he took six hundred carriages, all the carriages of Egypt, and captains over all of them.
8. And the Lord made the heart of Pharaoh hard, and he went after the children of Israel: for the children of Israel had gone out without fear.
9. But the Egyptians went after them, all the horses and carriages of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them in their tents by the sea, by Pihahiroth, before Baal-zephon.
10. And when Pharaoh came near, the children of Israel, lifting up their eyes, saw the Egyptians coming after them, and were full of fear; and their cry went up to God.
11. And they said to Moses, Was there no resting-place for the dead in Egypt, that you have taken us away to come to our death in the waste land? why have you taken us out of Egypt?
12. Did we not say to you in Egypt, Let us be as we are, working for the Egyptians? for it is better to be the servants of the Egyptians than to come to our death in the waste land.
13. But Moses said, Keep where you are and have no fear; now you will see the salvation of the Lord which he will give you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.
14. The Lord will make war for you, you have only to keep quiet.
15. And the Lord said to Moses, Why are you crying out to me? give the children of Israel the order to go forward.
16. And let your rod be lifted up and your hand stretched out over the sea, and it will be parted in two; and the children of Israel will go through on dry land.
17. And I will make the heart of the Egyptians hard, and they will go in after them: and I will be honoured over Pharaoh and over his army, his war-carriages, and his horsemen.
18. And the Egyptians will see that I am the Lord, when I get honour over Pharaoh and his war-carriages and his horsemen.
19. Then the angel of God, who had been before the tents of Israel, took his place at their back; and the pillar of cloud, moving from before them, came to rest at their back:
20. And it came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel; and there was a dark cloud between them, and they went on through the night; but the one army came no nearer to the other all the night.
21. And when Moses' hand was stretched out over the sea, the Lord with a strong east wind made the sea go back all night, and the waters were parted in two and the sea became dry land.
22. And the children of Israel went through the sea on dry land: and the waters were a wall on their right side and on their left.
23. Then the Egyptians went after them into the middle of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses and his war-carriages and his horsemen.
24. And in the morning watch, the Lord, looking out on the armies of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, sent trouble on the army of the Egyptians;
25. And made the wheels of their war-carriages stiff, so that they had hard work driving them: so the Egyptians said, Let us go in flight from before the face of Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.
26. And the Lord said to Moses, Let your hand be stretched out over the sea, and the waters will come back again on the Egyptians, and on their war-carriages and on their horsemen.
27. And when Moses' hand was stretched out over the sea, at dawn the sea came flowing back, meeting the Egyptians in their flight, and the Lord sent destruction on the Egyptians in the middle of the sea.
28. And the waters came back, covering the war-carriages and the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh which went after them into the middle of the sea; not one of them was to be seen.
29. But the children of Israel went through the sea walking on dry land, and the waters were a wall on their right side and on their left.
30. So that day the Lord gave Israel salvation from the hands of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the sea's edge.
31. And Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done against the Egyptians, and the fear of the Lord came on the people and they had faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Psalms 14 / Basic English

1. <To the chief music-maker. Of David.> The foolish man has said in his heart, God will not do anything. They are unclean, they have done evil works; there is not one who does good.
2. The Lord was looking down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who had wisdom, searching after God.
3. They have all gone out of the way together; they are unclean, there is not one who does good, no, not one.
4. Have all the workers of evil no knowledge? they take my people for food as they would take bread; they make no prayer to the Lord.
5. Then were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the upright.
6. You have put to shame the thoughts of the poor, but the Lord is his support.
7. May the salvation of Israel come out of Zion! when the fate of his people is changed by the Lord, Jacob will have joy and Israel will be glad.

Psalms 15 / Basic English

1. <A Psalm. Of David.> Lord, who may have a resting-place in your tent, a living-place on your holy hill?
2. He who goes on his way uprightly, doing righteousness, and saying what is true in his heart;
3. Whose tongue is not false, who does no evil to his friend, and does not take away the good name of his neighbour;
4. Who gives honour to those who have the fear of the Lord, turning away from him who has not the Lord's approval. He who takes an oath against himself, and makes no change.
5. He who does not put out his money at interest, or for payment give false decisions against men who have done no wrong. He who does these things will never be moved.

Psalms 16 / Basic English

1. <Michtam. Of David.> Keep me safe, O God: for in you I have put my faith.
2. O my soul, you have said to the Lord, You are my Lord: I have no good but you.
3. As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the noble in whom is all my delight.
4. Their sorrows will be increased who go after another god: I will not take drink offerings from their hands, or take their names on my lips.
5. The Lord is my heritage and the wine of my cup; you are the supporter of my right.
6. Fair are the places marked out for me; I have a noble heritage.
7. I will give praise to the Lord who has been my guide; knowledge comes to me from my thoughts in the night.
8. I have put the Lord before me at all times; because he is at my right hand, I will not be moved.
9. Because of this my heart is glad, and my glory is full of joy: while my flesh takes its rest in hope.
10. For you will not let my soul be prisoned in the underworld; you will not let your loved one see the place of death.
11. You will make clear to me the way of life; where you are joy is complete; in your right hand there are pleasures for ever and ever.