Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Numbers 34 / Basic English

1. And the Lord said to Moses,
2. Give orders to the children of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land which is to be your heritage, the land of Canaan inside these limits,)
3. Then your south quarter will be from the waste land of Zin by the side of Edom, and your limit on the south will be from the east end of the Salt Sea,
4. And round to the south of the slope of Akrabbim, and on to Zin: and its direction will be south of Kadesh-barnea, and it will go as far as Hazar-addar and on to Azmon:
5. And from Azmon it will go round to the stream of Egypt as far as the sea.
6. And for your limit on the west you will have the Great Sea and its edge: this will be your limit on the west.
7. And your limit on the north will be the line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor:
8. And from Mount Hor the line will go in the direction of Hamath; the farthest point of it will be at Zedad:
9. And the limit will go on to Ziphron, with its farthest point at Hazar-enan: this will be your limit on the north.
10. And on the east, your limit will be marked out from Hazar-enan to Shepham,
11. Going down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain, and on as far as the east side of the sea of Chinnereth:
12. And so down to Jordan, stretching to the Salt Sea: all the land inside these limits will be yours.
13. And Moses gave orders to the children of Israel saying, This is the land which is to be your heritage, by the decision of the Lord, which by the Lord's order is to be given to the nine tribes and the half-tribe:
14. For the tribe of the children of Reuben, by their fathers' families, and the tribe of the children of Gad, by their fathers' families, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, have been given their heritage:
15. The two tribes and the half-tribe have been given their heritage on the other side of Jordan at Jericho, on the east looking to the dawn.
16. And the Lord said to Moses,
17. These are the names of the men who are to make the distribution of the land among you: Eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun.
18. And you are to take one chief from every tribe to make the distribution of the land.
19. And these are the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.
20. And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel, the son of Ammihud.
21. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad, the son of Chislon.
22. And of the tribe of the children of Dan, a chief, Bukki, the son of Jogli.
23. Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh, a chief, Hanniel, the son of Ephod:
24. And of the tribe of the children of Ephraim, a chief, Kemuel, the son of Shiphtan.
25. And of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, a chief, Elizaphan, the son of Parnach.
26. And of the tribe of the children of Issachar, a chief, Paltiel, the son of Azzan.
27. And of the tribe of the children of Asher, a chief, Ahihud, the son of Shelomi.
28. And of the tribe of the children of Naphtali, a chief, Pedahel, the son of Ammihud.
29. These are they to whom the Lord gave orders to make the distribution of the heritage among the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Numbers 35 / Basic English

1. And the Lord said to Moses in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho,
2. Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns.
3. These towns are to be their living-places, with land round them for their cattle and their food and all their beasts,
4. Stretching from the wall of the towns a distance of a thousand cubits all round.
5. The measure of this space of land is to be two thousand cubits outside the town on the east, and two thousand cubits on the south and on the west and on the north, the town being in the middle. This space will be the outskirts of their towns.
6. And the towns which you give the Levites are to be the six safe places to which the taker of life may go in flight; and in addition you are to give them forty-two towns.
7. Forty-eight towns are to be given to the Levites, all with land round them.
8. And these towns are to be given out of the heritage of the children of Israel, taking the greater number from those who have much, and a smaller number from those who have little: everyone, in the measure of his heritage, is to give of his property to the Levites.
9. And the Lord said to Moses,
10. Say to the children of Israel, when you have gone over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
11. Then let certain towns be marked out as safe places to which anyone who takes the life of another in error may go in flight.
12. In these towns you may be safe from him who has the right of punishment; so that death may not overtake the taker of life till he has been judged by the meeting of the people.
13. Six of the towns which you give will be such safe places;
14. Three on the other side of Jordan and three in the land of Canaan, to be safe places for flight.
15. For the children of Israel and for the man from another country who is living among them, these six towns are to be safe places, where anyone causing the death of another through error may go in flight.
16. But if a man gives another man a blow with an iron instrument, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.
17. Or if he gives him a blow with a stone in his hand, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.
18. Or if he gave him blows with a wood instrument in his hands, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.
19. He whose right it is to give punishment for blood, may himself put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.
20. If in his hate he put a sword through him, or waiting secretly for him sent a spear or stone at him, causing his death;
21. Or in hate gave him blows with his hand, causing death; he who gave the death-blow is to be put to death; he is a taker of life: he whose right it is to give punishment for blood may put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.
22. But if a man has given a wound to another suddenly and not in hate, or without design has sent something against him,
23. Or has given him a blow with a stone, without seeing him, so causing his death, though he had nothing against him and no desire to do him evil:
24. Then let the meeting of the people be judge between the man responsible for the death and him who has the right of punishment for blood, acting by these rules:
25. And let the people keep the man responsible for the death safe from the hands of him who has the right of punishment for blood, and send him back to his safe town where he had gone in flight: there let him be till the death of the high priest who was marked with the holy oil.
26. But if ever he goes outside the walls of the safe town where he had gone in flight,
27. And the giver of punishment, meeting him outside the walls of the town, puts him to death, he will not be responsible for his blood:
28. Because he had been ordered to keep inside the safe town till the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the taker of life may come back to the place of his heritage.
29. These rules are to be your guide in judging through all your generations wherever you may be living.
30. Anyone causing the death of another is himself to be put to death on the word of witnesses: but the word of one witness is not enough.
31. Further, no price may be given for the life of one who has taken life and whose right reward is death: he is certainly to be put to death.
32. And no price may be offered for one who has gone in flight to a safe town, for the purpose of letting him come back to his place before the death of the high priest.
33. So do not make the land where you are living unholy: for blood makes the land unholy: and there is no way of making the land free from the blood which has come on it, but only by the death of him who was the cause of it.
34. Do not make unclean the land where you are living and in which is my House: for I the Lord am present among the children of Israel.

Psalms 74 / Basic English

1. <Maschil. Of Asaph.> Of God, why have you put us away from you for ever? why is the fire of your wrath smoking against the sheep who are your care?
2. Keep in mind your band of worshippers, for whom you gave payment in the days which are past, whom you took for yourself as the people of your heritage; even this mountain of Zion, which has been your resting-place.
3. Go up and see the unending destruction; all the evil which your haters have done in the holy place;
4. Sending out their voices like lions among your worshippers; they have put up their signs to be seen.
5. They are cutting down, like a man whose blade is lifted up against the thick trees.
6. Your doors are broken down with hammers and iron blades.
7. They have put on fire your holy place; they have made the place of your name unclean, pulling it down to the earth.
8. They have said in their hearts, Let us put an end to them all together; they have given over to the fire all God's places of worship in the land.
9. We do not see our signs: there is no longer any prophet, or anyone among us to say how long.
10. O God, how long will those who are against us say cruel things? will the hater go on looking down on your name for ever?
11. Why are you keeping back your hand, and covering your right hand in your robe?
12. For from the past God is my King, working salvation in the earth.
13. The sea was parted in two by your strength; the heads of the great sea-beasts were broken.
14. The heads of the great snake were crushed by you; you gave them as food to the fishes of the sea.
15. You made valleys for fountains and springs; you made the ever-flowing rivers dry.
16. The day is yours and the night is yours: you made the light and the sun.
17. By you all the limits of the earth were fixed; you have made summer and winter.
18. Keep this in mind, O Lord, that your haters have said cruel things, and that your name has been looked down on by a people of evil behaviour.
19. O give not the soul of your dove to the hawk; let not the life of the poor go out of your memory for ever.
20. Keep in mind your undertaking; for the dark places of the earth are full of pride and cruel acts.
21. O let not the crushed be turned back in shame; let the low man and the poor give praise to your name.
22. Up! O God, be the judge of your cause; keep in mind the bitter things which the man of evil behaviour says against you every day.
23. Keep in mind the voice of your haters; the outcry of those who come against you goes up every day.