Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

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reading for the day 27/02/2024 ; previous day - next day ; back to index ;

Leviticus 17 / Basic English



1. And the Lord said to Moses,
2. Say to Aaron and to his sons and to all the children of Israel: This is the order which the Lord has given.
3. If any man of Israel puts to death an ox or a lamb or a goat, in or outside the tent-circle;
4. And has not taken it to the door of the Tent of meeting, to make an offering to the Lord, before the Lord's House, its blood will be on him, for he has taken life, and he will be cut off from among his people:
5. So that the children of Israel may take to the Lord, to the door of the Tent of meeting and to the priest, the offerings which they have put to death in the open country, and that they may make their peace-offerings to the Lord.
6. And the priest will put blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the Tent of meeting, burning the fat for a sweet smell to the Lord.
7. And let them make no more offerings to evil spirits, after which they have gone, turning away from the Lord. Let this be a law to them for ever, through all their generations.
8. And say to them, If any man of Israel, or any other living among them, makes a burned offering or other offering,
9. And does not take it to the door of the Tent of meeting to make an offering to the Lord, that man will be cut off from among his people.
10. And if any man of Israel, or any other living among them, takes any sort of blood for food, my wrath will be turned against that man and he will be cut off from among his people.
11. For the life of the flesh is in its blood; and I have given it to you on the altar to take away your sin: for it is the blood which makes free from sin because of the life in it.
12. For this reason I have said to the children of Israel, No man among you, or any others living with you, may take blood as food.
13. And any man of Israel, or any other living among them, who gets with his bow any beast or bird used for food, is to see that its blood is covered with earth.
14. For the blood is the life of all flesh: and so I have said to the children of Israel, You may not take any sort of blood as food, and any man who does so will be cut of.
15. And anyone who takes as food anything which has come to a natural end, or anything which has been put to death by beasts, if he is one of you by birth, or of another nation, will have to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening, and then he will be clean.
16. But if his clothing is not washed and his body bathed, his sin will be on him.

Leviticus 18 / Basic English



1. And the Lord said to Moses,
2. Say to the children of Israel, I am the Lord your God.
3. You may not do those things which were done in the land of Egypt where you were living; and you may not do those things which are done in the land of Canaan where I am taking you, or be guided in your behaviour by their rules.
4. But you are to be guided by my decisions and keep my rules, and be guided by them: I am the Lord your God.
5. So keep my rules and my decisions, which, if a man does them, will be life to him: I am the Lord.
6. You may not have sex connection with anyone who is a near relation: I am the Lord.
7. You may not have sex relations with your father or your mother: she is your mother, you may not take her.
8. And you may not have sex relations with your father's wife: she is your father's.
9. You may not take your sister, the daughter of your father or of your mother, wherever her birth took place, among you or in another country.
10. You may not have sex relations with your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter, for they are part of yourself;
11. Or your father's wife's daughter, the child of your father, for she is your sister.
12. You may not have sex connection with your father's sister, for she is your father's near relation.
13. You may not have sex connection with your mother's sister, for she is your mother's near relation.
14. You may not have sex relations with the wife of your father's brother, for she is of your family;
15. Or with your daughter-in-law, for she is your son's wife, and you may not take her.
16. You may not have sex relations with your brother's wife, for she is your brother's.
17. You may not take as wife a woman and her daughter, or her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter, for they are of one family: it is an act of shame.
18. And you may not take as wife a woman and at the same time her sister, to be in competition with her in her life-time.
19. And you may not go near a woman or have sex relations with her when she is unclean, at her regular time.
20. And you may not have sex relations with your neighbour's wife, making yourself unclean with her.
21. And you may not make any of your children go through the fire as an offering to Molech, and you may not put shame on the name of your God: I am the Lord.
22. You may not have sex relations with men, as you do with women: it is a disgusting thing.
23. And you may not have sex relations with a beast, making yourself unclean with it; and a woman may not give herself to a beast: it is an unnatural act.
24. Do not make yourself unclean in any of these ways; for so have those nations whom I am driving out from before you made themselves unclean:
25. And the land itself has become unclean; so that I have sent on it the reward of its wrongdoing, and the land itself puts out those who are living in it.
26. So then keep my rules and my decisions, and do not do any of these disgusting things, those of you who are Israelites by birth, or any others who are living with you:
27. (For all these disgusting things were done by the men of this country who were there before you, and the land has been made unclean by them;)
28. So that the land may not put you out from it, when you make it unclean, as it put out the nations which were there before you.
29. For all those who do any of these disgusting things will be cut off from among their people.
30. So then, keep my orders, so that you may not do any of these disgusting things which were done before you, or make yourselves unclean through them: I am the Lord your God.

Mark 4 / Basic English



1. And again he was teaching by the seaside. And a very great number of people had come to him, so that he got into a boat on the sea and took his seat; and all the people were on the land by the seaside.
2. And he gave them teaching about a number of things in the form of stories, and said to them in his teaching, Give ear:
3. A man went out to put seed in the earth:
4. And while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside, and the birds came and took it for food.
5. And some went on the stones, where it had not much earth; and it came up straight away, because the earth was not deep:
6. And when the sun was high, it was burned; and because it had no root, it became dry and dead.
7. And some went among the thorns, and the thorns came up, and it had no room for growth and gave no fruit.
8. And some, falling on good earth, gave fruit, coming up and increasing, and giving thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.
9. And he said to them, Whoever has ears, let him give ear.
10. And when he was by himself, those who were round him with the twelve put questions to him about the purpose of the stories.
11. And he said to them, To you is given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things are given in the form of stories;
12. So that seeing they may see, and it will not be clear to them; and hearing it, they will not get the sense; for fear that they may be turned again to me and have forgiveness.
13. And he said to them, If you are not clear about this story, how will you be clear about the others?
14. The seed is the word.
15. And these are they by the wayside, where the word is planted; and when they have given ear, the Evil One comes straight away and takes away the word which has been planted in them.
16. And in the same way, these are they who are planted on the stones, who, when the word has come to their ears, straight away take it with joy;
17. And they have no root in themselves, but go on for a time; then, when trouble comes or pain, because of the word, they quickly become full of doubts.
18. And others are those planted among the thorns; these are they who have given ear to the word,
19. And the cares of this life, and the deceits of wealth, and the desire for other things coming in, put a stop to the growth of the word, and it gives no fruit.
20. And these are they who were planted on the good earth; such as give ear to the word, and take it into their hearts, and give fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundred times as much.
21. And he said to them, When the light comes in, do people put it under a vessel, or under the bed, and not on its table?
22. There is nothing covered which will not be seen openly, and nothing has been made secret which will not come to light.
23. If any man has ears, let him give ear.
24. And he said to them, Take care what you give ear to: in the same measure as you give you will get, and more will be given to you.
25. He who has, to him will be given: and he who has not, from him will be taken even that which he has.
26. And he said, Such is the kingdom of God, as if a man put seed in the earth,
27. And went to sleep and got up, night and day, and the seed came to growth, though he had no idea how.
28. The earth gives fruit by herself; first the leaf, then the head, then the full grain.
29. But when the grain is ready, he quickly sends men to get it cut, because the time for cutting has come.
30. And he said, What picture may we give of the kingdom of God, or with what story may we make it clear?
31. It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is put in the earth, is smaller than all the seeds on the earth,
32. But when it is planted, it comes up, and becomes taller than all the plants, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of heaven are able to take rest in its shade.
33. And with a number of such stories he gave them his teaching, as they were able to take it:
34. And without a story he said nothing to them: but privately to his disciples he made all things clear.
35. And on that day, when the evening had come, he said to them, Let us go over to the other side.
36. And going away from the people, they took him with them, as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him.
37. And a great storm of wind came up, and the waves came into the boat, so that the boat was now becoming full.
38. And he himself was in the back of the boat, sleeping on the cushion: and they, awaking him, said, Master, is it nothing to you that we are in danger of destruction?
39. And he came out of his sleep, and gave strong orders to the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be at rest. And the wind went down, and there was a great calm.
40. And he said to them, Why are you full of fear? have you still no faith?
41. And their fear was great, and they said one to another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea do his orders?