Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Exodus 15 / Basic English

1. Then Moses and the children of Israel made this song to the Lord, and said, I will make a song to the Lord, for he is lifted up in glory: the horse and the horseman he has sent down into the sea.
2. The Lord is my strength and my strong helper, he has become my salvation: he is my God and I will give him praise; my father's God and I will give him glory.
3. The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.
4. Pharaoh's war-carriages and his army he has sent down into the sea: the best of his captains have gone down into the Red Sea.
5. They were covered by the deep waters: like a stone they went down under the waves.
6. Full of glory, O Lord, is the power of your right hand; by your right hand those who came against you are broken.
7. When you are lifted up in power, all those who come against you are crushed: when you send out your wrath, they are burned up like dry grass.
8. By your breath the waves were massed together, the flowing waters were lifted up like a pillar; the deep waters became solid in the heart of the sea.
9. Egypt said, I will go after them, I will overtake, I will make division of their goods: my desire will have its way with them; my sword will be uncovered, my hand will send destruction on them.
10. You sent your wind and the sea came over them: they went down like lead into the great waters.
11. Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? who is like you, in holy glory, to be praised with fear, doing wonders?
12. When your right hand was stretched out, the mouth of the earth was open for them.
13. In your mercy you went before the people whom you have made yours; guiding them in your strength to your holy place.
14. Hearing of you the peoples were shaking in fear: the people of Philistia were gripped with pain.
15. The chiefs of Edom were troubled in heart; the strong men of Moab were in the grip of fear: all the people of Canaan became like water.
16. Fear and grief came on them; by the strength of your arm they were turned to stone; till your people went over, O Lord, till the people went over whom you have made yours.
17. You will take them in, planting them in the mountain of your heritage, the place, O Lord, where you have made your house, the holy place, O Lord, the building of your hands.
18. The Lord is King for ever and ever.
19. For the horses of Pharaoh, with his war-carriages and his horsemen, went into the sea, and the Lord sent the waters of the sea back over them; but the children of Israel went through the sea on dry land.
20. And Miriam, the woman prophet, the sister of Aaron, took an instrument of music in her hand; and all the women went after her with music and dances.
21. And Miriam, answering, said, Make a song to the Lord, for he is lifted up in glory; the horse and the horseman he has sent into the sea.
22. Then Moses took Israel forward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the waste land of Shur; and for three days they were in the waste land where there was no water.
23. And when they came to Marah, the water was no good for drinking, for the waters of Marah were bitter, which is why it was named Marah.
24. And the people, crying out against Moses, said, What are we to have for drink?
25. And in answer to his prayer, the Lord made him see a tree, and when he put it into the water, the water was made sweet. There he gave them a law and an order, testing them;
26. And he said, If with all your heart you will give attention to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his eyes, giving ear to his orders and keeping his laws, I will not put on you any of the diseases which I put on the Egyptians: for I am the Lord your life-giver.
27. And they came to Elim where there were twelve water-springs and seventy palm-trees: and they put up their tents there by the waters.

Exodus 16 / Basic English

1. And they went on their way from Elim, and all the children of Israel came into the waste land of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they went out of the land of Egypt.
2. And all the children of Israel were crying out against Moses and Aaron in the waste land:
3. And the children of Israel said to them, It would have been better for the Lord to have put us to death in the land of Egypt, where we were seated by the flesh-pots and had bread enough for our needs; for you have taken us out to this waste of sand, to put all this people to death through need of food.
4. Then the Lord said to Moses, See, I will send down bread from heaven for you; and the people will go out every day and get enough for the day's needs; so that I may put them to the test to see if they will keep my laws or not.
5. And on the sixth day they are to make ready what they get in, and it will be twice as much as they get on the other days.
6. And Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, This evening it will be clear to you that it is the Lord who has taken you out of the land of Egypt:
7. And in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord; for your angry words against the Lord have come to his ears: and what are we that you are crying out against us?
8. And Moses said, The Lord will give you meat for your food at evening, and in the morning bread in full measure; for your outcry against the Lord has come to his ears: for what are we? your outcry is not against us but against the Lord.
9. And Moses said to Aaron, Say to all the people of Israel, Come near before the Lord for he has given ear to your outcry.
10. And while Aaron was talking to the children of Israel, their eyes were turned in the direction of the waste land, and they saw the glory of the Lord shining in the cloud.
11. And the Lord said to Moses,
12. The outcry of the children of Israel has come to my ears: say to them now, At nightfall you will have meat for your food, and in the morning bread in full measure; and you will see that I am the Lord your God.
13. And it came about that in the evening little birds came up and the place was covered with them: and in the morning there was dew all round about the tents.
14. And when the dew was gone, on the face of the earth was a small round thing, like small drops of ice on the earth.
15. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, What is it? for they had no idea what it was. And Moses said to them, It is the bread which the Lord has given you for your food.
16. This is what the Lord has said, Let every man take up as much as he has need of; at the rate of one omer for every person, let every man take as much as is needed for his family.
17. And the children of Israel did so, and some took more and some less.
18. And when it was measured, he who had taken up much had nothing over, and he who had little had enough; every man had taken what he was able to make use of.
19. And Moses said to them, Let nothing be kept till the morning.
20. But they gave no attention to Moses, and some of them kept it till the morning and there were worms in it and it had an evil smell: and Moses was angry with them.
21. And they took it up morning by morning, every man as he had need: and when the sun was high it was gone.
22. And on the sixth day they took up twice as much of the bread, two omers for every person: and all the rulers of the people gave Moses word of it.
23. And he said, This is what the Lord has said, Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord: what has to be cooked may be cooked; and what is over, put on one side to be kept till the morning.
24. And they kept it till the morning as Moses had said: and no smell came from it, and it had no worms.
25. And Moses said, Make your meal today of what you have, for this day is a Sabbath to the Lord: today you will not get any in the fields.
26. For six days you will get it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.
27. But still on the seventh day some of the people went out to get it, and there was not any.
28. And the Lord said to Moses, How long will you go against my orders and my laws?
29. See, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, he gives you on the sixth day bread enough for two days; let every man keep where he is; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
30. So the people took their rest on the seventh day.
31. And this bread was named manna by Israel: it was white, like a grain seed, and its taste was like cakes made with honey.
32. And Moses said, This is the order which the Lord has given: Let one omer of it be kept for future generations, so that they may see the bread which I gave you for your food in the waste land, when I took you out from the land of Egypt.
33. And Moses said to Aaron, Take a pot and put one omer of manna in it, and put it away before the Lord, to be kept for future generations.
34. So Aaron put it away in front of the holy chest to be kept, as the Lord gave orders to Moses.
35. And the children of Israel had manna for their food for forty years, till they came to a land with people in it, till they came to the edge of the land of Canaan.
36. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

Psalms 17 / Basic English

1. <A Prayer. Of David.> Let my cause come to your ears, O Lord, give attention to my cry; give ear to my prayer which goes not out from false lips.
2. Be my judge; for your eyes see what is right.
3. You have put my heart to the test, searching me in the night; you have put me to the test and seen no evil purpose in me; I will keep my mouth from sin.
4. As for the works of men, by the word of your lips I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
5. I have kept my feet in your ways, my steps have not been turned away.
6. My cry has gone up to you, for you will give me an answer, O God: let your ear be turned to me, and give attention to my words.
7. Make clear the wonder of your mercy, O saviour of those who put their faith in your right hand, from those who come out against them.
8. Keep me as the light of your eyes, covering me with the shade of your wings,
9. From the evil-doers who are violent to me, and from those who are round me, desiring my death.
10. They are shut up in their fat: with their mouths they say words of pride.
11. They have made a circle round our steps: their eyes are fixed on us, forcing us down to the earth;
12. Like a lion desiring its food, and like a young lion waiting in secret places.
13. Up! Lord, come out against him, make him low, with your sword be my saviour from the evil-doer.
14. With your hand, O Lord, from men, even men of the world, whose heritage is in this life, and whom you make full with your secret wealth: they are full of children; after their death their offspring take the rest of their goods.
15. As for me, I will see your face in righteousness: when I am awake it will be joy enough for me to see your form.

Psalms 18 / Basic English

1. <To the chief music-maker. Of the servant of the Lord, of David, who said the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord made him free from the hand of all his haters, and from the hand of Saul; and he said,> I will give you my love, O Lord, my strength.
2. The Lord is my Rock, my walled town, and my saviour; my God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
3. I will send up my cry to the Lord, who is to be praised; so will I be made safe from those who are against me.
4. The cords of death were round me, and the seas of evil put me in fear.
5. The cords of hell were round me: the nets of death came on me.
6. In my trouble my voice went up to the Lord, and my cry to my God: my voice came to his hearing in his holy Temple, and my prayer came before him, even into his ears.
7. Then trouble and shock came on the earth; and the bases of the mountains were moved and shaking, because he was angry.
8. There went up a smoke from his nose, and a fire of destruction from his mouth: flames were lighted by it.
9. The heavens were bent, so that he might come down; and it was dark under his feet.
10. And he went in flight through the air, seated on a storm-cloud: going quickly on the wings of the wind.
11. He made the dark his secret place; his tent round him was the dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12. Before his shining light his dark clouds went past, raining ice and fire.
13. The Lord made thunder in the heavens, and the voice of the Highest was sounding out: a rain of ice and fire.
14. He sent out his arrows, driving them in all directions; by his flames of fire they were troubled.
15. Then the deep beds of the waters were seen, and the bases of the world were uncovered, because of your words of wrath, O Lord, because of the breath from your mouth.
16. He sent from on high, he took me, pulling me out of great waters.
17. He made me free from my strong hater, and from those who were against me, because they were stronger than I.
18. They came on me in the day of my trouble; but the Lord was my support.
19. He took me out into a wide place; he was my saviour because he had delight in me.
20. The Lord gives me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean before him.
21. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not been turned away in sin from my God.
22. For all his decisions were before me, and I did not put away his laws from me.
23. And I was upright before him, and I kept myself from sin.
24. Because of this the Lord has given me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean in his eyes.
25. On him who has mercy you will have mercy; to the upright you will be upright;
26. He who is holy will see that you are holy; but to the man whose way is not straight you will be a hard judge.
27. For you are the saviour of those who are in trouble; but eyes full of pride will be made low.
28. You, O Lord, will be my light; by you, my God, the dark will be made bright for me.
29. By your help I have made a way through the wall which was shutting me in; by the help of my God I have gone over a wall.
30. As for God, his way is completely good; the word of the Lord is tested; he is a breastplate for all those who put their faith in him.
31. For who is God but the Lord? or who is a Rock but our God?
32. God puts a strong band about me, guiding me in a straight way.
33. He makes my feet like roes' feet, and puts me on high places.
34. He makes my hands expert in war, so that a bow of brass is bent by my arms.
35. You have given me the breastplate of your salvation: your right hand has been my support, and your mercy has made me great.
36. You have made my steps wide under me, so that my feet are kept from slipping.
37. I go after my haters and overtake them; not turning back till they are all overcome.
38. I will give them wounds, so that they are not able to get up: they are stretched under my feet.
39. For I have been armed by you with strength for the fight: you have made low under me those who come out against me.
40. By you their backs are turned in flight, so that my haters are cut off.
41. They were crying out, but there was no one to come to their help: even to the Lord, but he gave them no answer.
42. Then they were crushed as small as dust before the wind; they were drained out like the waste of the streets.
43. You have made me free from the fightings of the people; you have made me the head of the nations: a people of whom I had no knowledge will be my servants.
44. From the time when my name comes to their ears they will be ruled by me: men of other countries will, with false hearts, put themselves under my authority.
45. They will be wasting away, they will come out of their secret places shaking with fear.
46. The Lord is living; praise be to my Rock, and let the God of my salvation be honoured.
47. It is God who sends punishment on my haters, and puts peoples under my rule.
48. He makes me free from my haters; I am lifted up over those who come up against me: you have made me free from the violent man.
49. Because of this I will give you praise, O Lord, among the nations, and will make a song of praise to your name.
50. Great salvation does he give to his king; he has mercy on the king of his selection, David, and on his seed for ever.