Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Exodus 25 / Basic English

1. And the Lord said to Moses,
2. Say to the children of Israel that they are to make me an offering; from every man who has the impulse in his heart take an offering for me.
3. And this is the offering you are to take from them: gold and silver and brass;
4. And blue and purple and red, and the best linen, and goats' hair;
5. And sheepskins coloured red, and leather, and hard wood;
6. Oil for the light, spices for the sweet-smelling oil, sweet perfumes for burning;
7. Beryls and stones of value to be put on the ephod and on the priest's bag.
8. And let them make me a holy place, so that I may be ever present among them.
9. Make the House and everything in it from the designs which I will give you.
10. And they are to make an ark of hard wood; two and a half cubits long, and a cubit and a half wide and high.
11. It is to be plated inside and out with the best gold, with an edge of gold all round it
12. And make four rings of gold for it, to be fixed on its four feet, two rings on one side of it and two on the other.
13. And make rods of the same wood, plating them with gold.
14. And put the rods through the rings at the sides of the ark, for lifting it.
15. The rods are to be kept in the rings, and never taken out.
16. Inside the ark you are to put the record which I will give you.
17. And you are to make a cover of the best gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
18. And at the two ends of the cover you are to make two winged ones of hammered gold,
19. One at one end and one at the other; the winged ones are to be part of the cover.
20. And their wings are to be outstretched over the cover, and the winged ones are to be opposite one another, facing the cover.
21. And put the cover over the ark, and in the ark the record which I will give you.
22. And there, between the two winged ones on the cover of the ark, I will come to you, face to face, and make clear to you all the orders I have to give you for the children of Israel.
23. And you are to make a table of the same wood, two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high,
24. Plated with the best gold, with a gold edge all round it;
25. And make a frame all round it, as wide as a man's hand, with a gold edge to the frame.
26. And make four gold rings and put them at the four angles, on the four feet of the table;
27. The rings are to be fixed under the frame to take the rods with which the table is to be lifted.
28. Make rods of the same wood, plated with gold, for lifting the table.
29. And make the table-vessels, the spoons and the cups and the basins for liquids, all of the best gold.
30. And on the table at all times you are to keep my holy bread.
31. And you are to make a support for lights, of the best gold; its base and its pillar are to be of hammered gold; its cups, its buds, and its flowers are to be made of the same metal.
32. It is to have six branches coming out from its sides; three branches from one side and three from the other.
33. Every branch having three cups made like almond flowers, every cup with a bud and a flower, on all the branches.
34. And on the pillar, four cups like almond flowers, every one with its bud and its flower:
35. And under every two branches a bud, made with the branch, for all the six branches of it.
36. The buds and the branches are to be made of the same metal; all together one complete work of hammered gold.
37. Then you are to make its seven vessels for the lights, putting them in their place so that they give light in front of it.
38. And the instruments and trays for use with it are all to be of the best gold.
39. A talent of gold will be needed for it, with all these vessels.
40. And see that you make them from the design which you saw on the mountain.

Exodus 26 / Basic English

1. And you are to make a House for me, with ten curtains of the best linen, blue and purple and red, worked with designs of winged ones by a good workman.
2. Every curtain is to be twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide, all of the same measure.
3. Five curtains are to be joined together, and the other five are to be joined together.
4. And you are to put twists of blue cord on the edge of the outside curtain of the first group of five, and on the edge of the outside curtain of the second group of five;
5. Fifty twists on one curtain and fifty on the other, the twists to be opposite one another.
6. Then make fifty gold hooks, joining the curtains together by the hooks, and in this way the House will be made.
7. And you are to make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the House, eleven curtains.
8. Every curtain is to be thirty cubits long and four cubits wide, all of the same measure.
9. Five of these curtains are to be joined together, and the other six are to be joined together, the sixth being folded over to make a hanging in front of the tent.
10. And you are to put fifty twists of cord on the edge of the outside curtain of one group, and fifty twists on the edge of the outside curtain of the other group.
11. Then make fifty brass hooks and put the hooks into the twists, joining the tent together to make it one.
12. And the folded part which is over of the curtains of the tent, the half-curtain which is folded back, will be hanging down over the back of the House.
13. And the cubit which is over of the ten curtains at the sides will be hanging over the two sides of the House as a cover.
14. And then you are to make a cover for the tent, of sheepskins coloured red, and a cover of leather over that.
15. And you are to make upright boards of hard wood for the House.
16. Every board is to be ten cubits high and a cubit and a half wide.
17. Every board is to be joined to the one nearest to it by two tongues, and so for every board in the House.
18. These are the boards needed for the house; twenty boards for the south side,
19. With forty silver bases under the twenty boards, two bases under every board to take its tongues.
20. And twenty boards for the second side of the house on the north,
21. With their forty silver bases, two under every board.
22. And six boards for the back of the House on the west,
23. With two boards for the angles of the House at the back.
24. The two are to be joined together at the base and at the top to one ring, forming the two angles.
25. So there are to be eight boards, with their sixteen silver bases, two bases under every board.
26. And make rods of the same wood, five for the boards on the one side,
27. And five for the boards on the other side of the House, and five for the west side of the House at the back.
28. And the middle rod is to go through the rings of all the boards from end to end.
29. And the boards are to be plated with gold, having gold rings for the rods to go through: and the rods are to be plated with gold.
30. And you are to make the House from the design which you saw on the mountain.
31. And you are to make a veil of the best linen, blue and purple and red, worked with designs of winged ones by a good workman:
32. Hanging it by gold hooks from four pillars of wood, plated with gold and fixed in silver bases.
33. And you are to put up the veil under the hooks, and put inside it the ark of the law: the veil is to be a division between the holy place and the most holy.
34. You are to put the cover on the ark of the law, inside the most holy place.
35. And outside the veil you are to put the table, and the support for the lights opposite the table on the south side of the House; and the table is to be on the north side.
36. And you are to make a curtain for the doorway of the Tent, of the best linen with needlework of blue and purple and red.
37. And make five pillars for the curtain, of hard wood plated with gold; their hooks are to be of gold and their bases of brass

Psalms 28 / Basic English

1. <Of David.> My cry goes up to you, O Lord, my Rock; do not keep back your answer from me, so that I may not become like those who go down into the underworld.
2. Give ear to the voice of my prayer, when I am crying to you, when my hands are lifted up to your holy place.
3. Do not take me away with the sinners and the workers of evil, who say words of peace to their neighbours, but evil is in their hearts.
4. Give them the right reward of their acts, and of their evil doings: give them punishment for the works of their hands, let them have their full reward.
5. Because they have no respect for the works of the Lord, or for the things which his hands have made, they will be broken down and not lifted up by him.
6. May the Lord be praised, because he has given ear to the voice of my prayer.
7. The Lord is my strength and my breastplate, my heart had faith in him and I am helped; for this cause my heart is full of rapture, and I will give him praise in my song.
8. The Lord is their strength, and a strong place of salvation for his king.
9. Be a saviour to your people, and send a blessing on your heritage: be their guide, and let them be lifted up for ever.

Psalms 29 / Basic English

1. <A Psalm. Of David.> Give to the Lord, you sons of the gods, give to the Lord glory and strength.
2. Give to the Lord the full glory of his name; give him worship in holy robes.
3. The voice of the Lord is on the waters: the God of glory is thundering, the Lord is on the great waters.
4. The voice of the Lord is full of power; the voice of the Lord has a noble sound.
5. By the voice of the Lord are the cedar-trees broken, even the cedars of Lebanon are broken by the Lord.
6. He makes them go jumping about like a young ox; Lebanon and Sirion like a young mountain ox.
7. At the voice of the Lord flames of fire are seen.
8. At the voice of the Lord there is a shaking in the waste land, even a shaking in the waste land of Kadesh.
9. At the voice of the Lord the roes give birth, the leaves are taken from the trees: in his Temple everything says, Glory.
10. The Lord had his seat as king when the waters came on the earth; the Lord is seated as king for ever.
11. The Lord will give strength to his people; the Lord will give his people the blessing of peace.