Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

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reading for the day 22/03/2024 ; previous day - next day ; back to index ;

Numbers 31 / Basic English



1. Then the Lord said to Moses,
2. Give the Midianites punishment for the wrong they did to the children of Israel: and after that you will go to rest with your people.
3. So Moses said to the people, Let men from among you be armed for war to put into effect against Midian the Lord's punishment on them.
4. From every tribe of Israel send a thousand to the war.
5. So from the thousands of Israel a thousand were taken from every tribe, twelve thousand men armed for war.
6. And Moses sent them out to war, a thousand from every tribe, and with them Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, taking in his hands the vessels of the holy place and the horns for sounding the note of war.
7. And they made war on Midian, as the Lord gave orders to Moses; and they put to death every male.
8. They put the kings of Midian to death with the rest, Evi and Reken and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian: and Balaam, the son of Beor, they put to death with the sword.
9. The women of Midian with their little ones the children of Israel took prisoner; and all their cattle and flocks and all their goods they took for themselves;
10. And after burning all their towns and all their tent-circles,
11. They went away with the goods they had taken, man and beast.
12. And the prisoners and the goods and everything they had taken, they took to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the people of Israel, to the tent-circle in the lowlands of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
13. Then Moses and Eleazar the priest and the chiefs of the people went out to them before they had come into the tent-circle.
14. And Moses was angry with the chiefs of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds who had come back from the war.
15. And Moses said to them, Why have you kept all the women safe?
16. It was these who, moved by Balaam, were the cause of Israel's sin against the Lord in the question of Peor, because of which disease came on the people of the Lord.
17. So now put every male child to death, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man.
18. But all the female children who have had no sex relations with men, you may keep for yourselves.
19. You yourselves will have to keep outside the tent-circle for seven days, anyone of you who has put any person to death or come near a dead body; and on the third day and on the seventh day make yourselves and your prisoners clean.
20. And every bit of clothing, and anything made of leather or goats' hair or wood, you are to make clean.
21. Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had been to the fight, This is the rule of the law which the Lord has given to Moses:
22. But gold and silver and brass and iron and tin and lead,
23. And anything which may be heated, is to go through the fire and be made clean; but in addition it is to be put in the water of cleaning: and anything which may not go through the fire is to be put in the water.
24. And on the seventh day, after washing your clothing, you will be clean, and then you may come into the tent-circle.
25. And the Lord said to Moses,
26. Get an account of everything which was taken in the war, of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of families of the people:
27. And let division be made of it into two parts, one for the men of war who went out to the fight, and one for all the people:
28. And from the men of war who went out let there be offered to the Lord one out of every five hundred, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep:
29. Take this from their part and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to be lifted up to the Lord.
30. And from the part given to the children of Israel, take one out of every fifty, from the persons, and from the oxen and asses and sheep, and give it to the Levites who have the care of the House of the Lord.
31. So Eleazar and Moses did as the Lord had given orders to Moses.
32. Now the beasts taken, in addition to what the fighting-men took for themselves, were six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,
33. And seventy-two thousand oxen,
34. And sixty-one thousand asses;
35. And thirty-two thousand persons, that is, women who had never had sex relations with a man.
36. And the half given as their part to the men who went to the war, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep,
37. Of which the Lord's part was six hundred and seventy-five.
38. The number of oxen was thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord's part was seventy-two;
39. The number of asses was thirty thousand, five hundred, of which the Lord's part was sixty-one.
40. And the number of persons was sixteen thousand, of which the Lord's part was thirty-two persons.
41. And Moses gave the Lord's part, lifted up as an offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had given orders to Moses.
42. And from the half given to the children of Israel, which Moses had kept separate from that given to the fighting-men,
43. (Now the people's half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred sheep,
44. And thirty-six thousand oxen,
45. And thirty thousand, five hundred asses,
46. And sixteen thousand persons;)
47. Even from the children of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, men and beasts, and gave them to the Levites who had the care of the House of the Lord; as the Lord gave orders to Moses.
48. Then the men in authority over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came to Moses,
49. And said to him, Your servants have taken note of the number of all the fighting-men under our orders, and every one is present;
50. And we have here an offering for the Lord from what every man took in the war, ornaments of gold, leg-chains and arm-rings, finger-rings, ear-rings, and neck-ornaments, to make our souls free from sin before the Lord.
51. So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, even all the worked ornaments.
52. And the gold which the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds gave, as an offering to be lifted up before the Lord, came to sixteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty shekels.
53. (For every man of the army had taken goods for himself in the war.)
54. Then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold given by the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, and took it into the Tent of meeting, to be a sign in memory of the children of Israel before the Lord.

Psalms 70 / Basic English



1. <To the chief music-maker. Of David. To keep in memory.> Let your salvation come quickly, O God; come quickly to my help, O Lord.
2. Let those who go after my soul have shame and trouble; let those who have evil designs against me be turned back and made foolish.
3. Let those who say Aha, aha! be turned back as a reward of their shame.
4. Let all those who are looking for you be glad and have joy in you; let the lovers of your salvation ever say, May God be great.
5. But I am poor and in need; come to me quickly, O God; you are my help and my saviour; let there be no waiting, O Lord.

Psalms 71 / Basic English



1. In you, O Lord, have I put my hope; let me never be shamed.
2. Keep me safe in your righteousness, and come to my help; give ear to my voice, and be my saviour.
3. Be my strong Rock, the strong place of my salvation; for you are my Rock, and my safe place.
4. O my God, take me out of the hand of the sinner, out of the hand of the evil and cruel man.
5. For you are my hope, O Lord God; I have had faith in you from the time when I was young.
6. You have been my support from the day of my birth; you took me out of my mother's body; my praise will be ever of you.
7. I am a wonder to all; but you are my strong tower.
8. My mouth will be full of your praise and glory all the day.
9. Do not give me up when I am old; be my help even when my strength is gone.
10. For my haters are waiting secretly for me; and those who are watching for my soul are banded together in their evil designs,
11. Saying, God has given him up; go after him and take him, for he has no helper.
12. O God, be not far from me; O my God, come quickly to my help.
13. Let those who say evil against my soul be overcome and put to shame; let my haters be made low and have no honour.
14. But I will go on ever hoping, and increasing in all your praise.
15. My mouth will make clear your righteousness and your salvation all the day; for they are more than may be measured.
16. I will give news of the great acts of the Lord God; my words will be of your righteousness, and of yours only.
17. O God, you have been my teacher from the time when I was young; and I have been talking of your works of wonder even till now.
18. Now when I am old and grey-headed, O God, give me not up; till I have made clear your strength to this generation, and your power to all those to come.
19. Your righteousness, O God, is very high; you have done great things; O God, who is like you?
20. You, who have sent great and bitter troubles on me, will give me life again, lifting me up from the deep waters of the underworld.
21. You will make me greater than before, and give me comfort on every side.
22. I will give praise to you with instruments of music, O my God, for you are true; I will make songs to you with music, O Holy One of Israel.
23. Joy will be on my lips when I make melody to you; and in my soul, to which you have given salvation.
24. My tongue will be talking of your righteousness all the day; for those whose purpose is to do me evil have been crushed and put to shame.