Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Exodus 27 / Basic English

1. And make an altar of hard wood, a square altar, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high.
2. Put horns at the four angles of it, made of the same, plating it all with brass.
3. And make all its vessels, the baskets for taking away the dust of the fire, the spades and basins and meat-hooks and fire-trays, of brass.
4. And make a network of brass, with four brass rings at its four angles.
5. And put the network under the shelf round the altar so that the net comes half-way up the altar.
6. And make rods for the altar, of hard wood, plated with brass.
7. And put the rods through the rings at the two opposite sides of the altar, for lifting it.
8. The altar is to be hollow, boarded in with wood; make it from the design which you saw on the mountain.
9. And let there be an open space round the House, with hangings for its south side of the best linen, a hundred cubits long.
10. Their twenty pillars and their twenty bases are to be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their bands are to be of silver.
11. And on the north side in the same way, hangings a hundred cubits long, with twenty pillars of brass on bases of brass; their hooks and their bands are to be of silver.
12. And for the open space on the west side, the hangings are to be fifty cubits wide, with ten pillars and ten bases;
13. And on the east side the space is to be fifty cubits wide.
14. On the one side of the doorway will be hangings fifteen cubits long, with three pillars and three bases;
15. And on the other side, hangings fifteen cubits long, with three pillars and three bases.
16. And across the doorway, a veil of twenty cubits of the best linen, made of needlework of blue and purple and red, with four pillars and four bases.
17. All the pillars round the open space are to have silver bands, with hooks of silver and bases of brass.
18. The open space is to be a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, with sides five cubits high, curtained with the best linen, with bases of brass.
19. All the instruments for the work of the House, and all its nails, and the nails of the open space are to be of brass.
20. Give orders to the children of Israel to give you clear olive oil for the lights, so that a light may be burning there at all times.
21. Let Aaron and his sons put this in order, evening and morning, before the Lord, inside the Tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the ark; this is to be an order for ever, from generation to generation, to be kept by the children of Israel.

Exodus 28 / Basic English

1. Now let Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, come near from among the children of Israel, so that they may be my priests, even Aaron, and Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, his sons.
2. And make holy robes for Aaron your brother, so that he may be clothed with glory and honour.
3. Give orders to all the wise-hearted workmen, whom I have made full of the spirit of wisdom, to make robes for Aaron, so that he may be made holy as my priest.
4. This is what they are to make: a priest's bag, an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of coloured needlework, a head-dress, and a linen band; they are to make holy robes for Aaron your brother and for his sons, so that they may do the work of priests for me.
5. They are to take the gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen,
6. And make the ephod of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen, the work of a designer.
7. It is to have two bands stitched to it at the top of the arms, joining it together.
8. And the beautifully worked band, which goes on it, is to be of the same work and the same material, of gold and blue and purple and red and twisted linen-work.
9. You are to take two beryl stones, on which the names of the children of Israel are to be cut:
10. Six names on the one stone and six on the other, in the order of their birth.
11. With the work of a jeweller, like the cutting of a stamp, the names of the children of Israel are to be cut on them, and they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold.
12. And the two stones are to be placed on the ephod, over the arm-holes, to be stones of memory for the children of Israel: Aaron will have their names on his arms when he goes in before the Lord, to keep the Lord in mind of them.
13. And you are to make twisted frames of gold;
14. And two chains of the best gold, twisted like cords; and have the chains fixed on to the frames.
15. And make a priest's bag for giving decisions, designed like the ephod, made of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen.
16. It is to be square, folded in two, a hand-stretch long and a hand-stretch wide.
17. And on it you are to put four lines of jewels; the first line is to be a cornelian, a chrysolite, and an emerald;
18. The second, a ruby, a sapphire, and an onyx;
19. The third, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
20. The fourth, a topaz, a beryl, and a jasper; they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold.
21. The jewels are to be twelve in number, for the names of the children of Israel; every jewel having the name of one of the twelve tribes cut on it as on a stamp.
22. And you are to make two chains of gold, twisted like cords, to be fixed to the priest's bag.
23. And put two gold rings on the two ends of the bag.
24. Put the two gold chains on the two rings at the ends of the bag;
25. Joining the other ends of the chains to the gold frames and putting them on the front of the ephod, at the top of the arms.
26. Then make two gold rings and put them on the lower ends of the bag, at the edge of it on the inner side nearest to the ephod.
27. And make two more gold rings and put them on the front of the ephod at the top of the arms, at the join, over the worked band:
28. So that the rings on the bag may be fixed to the rings of the ephod by a blue cord and on to the band of the ephod, so that the bag may not come loose from the ephod.
29. And so Aaron will have the names of the children of Israel on the priest's bag over his heart whenever he goes into the holy place, to keep the memory of them before the Lord.
30. And in the bag you are to put the Urim and Thummim, so that they may be on Aaron's heart whenever he goes in before the Lord; and Aaron may have the power of making decisions for the children of Israel before the Lord at all times.
31. The robe which goes with the ephod is to be made all of blue;
32. With a hole at the top, in the middle of it; the hole is to be edged with a band to make it strong like the hole in the coat of a fighting-man, so that it may not be broken open.
33. And round the skirts of it put fruits in blue and purple and red, with bells of gold between;
34. A gold bell and a fruit in turn all round the skirts of the robe.
35. Aaron is to put it on for his holy work; and the sound of it will be clear, when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, keeping him safe from death.
36. You are to make a plate of the best gold, cutting on it, as on a stamp, these words: HOLY TO THE LORD.
37. Put a blue cord on it and put it on the front of the twisted head-dress:
38. And it will be over Aaron's brow, so that Aaron will be responsible for any error in all the holy offerings made by the children of Israel; it will be on his brow at all times, so that their offerings may be pleasing to the Lord.
39. The coat is to be made of the best linen, worked in squares; and you are to make a head-dress of linen, and a linen band worked in needlework.
40. And for Aaron's sons you are to make coats, and bands, and head-dresses, so that they may be clothed with glory and honour.
41. These you are to put on Aaron, your brother, and on his sons, putting oil on them, separating them and making them holy, to do the work of priests to me.
42. And you are to make them linen trousers, covering their bodies from the middle to the knee;
43. Aaron and his sons are to put these on whenever they go into the Tent of meeting or come near the altar, when they are doing the work of the holy place, so that they may be free from any sin causing death: this is to be an order for him and his seed after him for ever.

Psalms 30 / Basic English

1. <A Psalm. A Song at the blessing of the House. Of David.> I will give you praise and honour, O Lord, because through you I have been lifted up; you have not given my haters cause to be glad over me.
2. O Lord my God, I sent up my cry to you, and you have made me well.
3. O Lord, you have made my soul come again from the underworld: you have given me life and kept me from going down among the dead.
4. Make songs to the Lord, O you saints of his, and give praise to his holy name.
5. For his wrath is only for a minute; in his grace there is life; weeping may be for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
6. When things went well for me I said, I will never be moved.
7. Lord, by your grace you have kept my mountain strong: when your face was turned from me I was troubled.
8. My voice went up to you, O Lord; I made my prayer to the Lord.
9. What profit is there in my blood if I go down into the underworld? will the dust give you praise, or be a witness to your help?
10. Give ear to me, O Lord, and have mercy on me: Lord, be my helper.
11. By you my sorrow is turned into dancing; you have taken away my clothing of grief, and given me robes of joy;
12. So that my glory may make songs of praise to you and not be quiet. O Lord my God, I will give you praise for ever.

Psalms 31 / Basic English

1. <To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.> In you, O Lord, have I put my hope; let me never be shamed; keep me safe in your righteousness.
2. Let your ear be turned to me; take me quickly out of danger; be my strong Rock, my place of strength where I may be safe.
3. For you are my Rock and my strong tower; go in front of me and be my guide, because of your name.
4. Take me out of the net which they have put ready for me secretly; for you are my strength.
5. Into your hands I give my spirit; you are my saviour, O Lord God for ever true.
6. I am full of hate for those who go after false gods; but my hope is in the Lord.
7. I will be glad and have delight in your mercy; because you have seen my trouble; you have had pity on my soul in its sorrows;
8. And you have not given me into the hand of my hater; you have put my feet in a wide place.
9. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eyes are wasted with grief, I am wasted in soul and body.
10. My life goes on in sorrow, and my years in weeping; my strength is almost gone because of my sin, and my bones are wasted away.
11. Because of all those who are against me, I have become a word of shame to my neighbours; a cause of shaking the head and a fear to my friends: those who saw me in the street went in flight from me.
12. I have gone from men's minds and memory like a dead man; I am like a broken vessel.
13. False statements against me have come to my ears; fear was on every side: they were talking together against me, designing to take away my life.
14. But I had faith in you, O Lord; I said, You are my God.
15. The chances of my life are in your hand; take me out of the hands of my haters, and of those who go after me.
16. Let your servant see the light of your face; in your mercy be my saviour.
17. Let me not be shamed, O Lord, for I have made my prayer to you; let the sinners be shamed, and let their mouths be shut in the underworld.
18. Let the false lips be shut, which say evil against the upright, looking down on him in their pride.
19. O how great is your grace, which you have put in store for your worshippers, and which you have made clear to those who had faith in you, before the sons of men!
20. You will keep them safe in your house from the designs of man; in the secret of your tent will you keep them from angry tongues.
21. May the Lord be praised, because he has made clear to me the wonder of his grace in a strong town.
22. And as for me, I said in my fear, I am cut off from before your eyes; but you gave ear to the voice of my prayer, when my cry went up to you.
23. O have love for the Lord, all you his saints; for the Lord keeps safe from danger all those who are true to him, and gives the workers of pride their right reward.
24. Put away fear and let your heart be strong, all you whose hope is in the Lord.