Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Deuteronomy 19 / Basic English

1. When the nations, whose land the Lord your God is giving you, have been cut off by him, and you have taken their place and are living in their towns and in their houses;
2. You are to have three towns marked out in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage.
3. You are to make ready a way, and see that the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage, is marked out into three parts, to which any taker of life may go in flight.
4. This is to be the rule for anyone who goes in flight there, after causing the death of his neighbour in error and not through hate;
5. For example, if a man goes into the woods with his neighbour for the purpose of cutting down trees, and when he takes his axe to give a blow to the tree, the head of the axe comes off, and falling on to his neighbour gives him a wound causing his death; then the man may go in flight to one of these towns and be safe:
6. For if not, he who has the right of punishment may go running after the taker of life in the heat of his wrath, and overtake him because the way is long, and give him a death-blow; though it is not right for him to be put to death because he was not moved by hate.
7. And so I am ordering you to see that three towns are marked out for this purpose.
8. And if the Lord your God makes wide the limits of your land, as he said in his oath to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he undertook to give to your fathers;
9. If you keep and do all these orders which I give you today, loving the Lord your God and walking ever in his ways; then let three more towns, in addition to these three, be marked out for you:
10. So that in all your land, which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage, no man may be wrongly put to death, for which you will be responsible.
11. But if any man has hate for his neighbour, and waiting for him secretly makes an attack on him and gives him a blow causing his death, and then goes in flight to one of these towns;
12. The responsible men of his town are to send and take him, and give him up to the one who has the right of punishment to be put to death.
13. Have no pity on him, so that Israel may be clear from the crime of putting a man to death without cause, and it will be well for you.
14. Your neighbour's landmark, which was put in its place by the men of old times, is not to be moved or taken away in the land of your heritage which the Lord your God is giving you.
15. One witness may not make a statement against a man in relation to any sin or wrongdoing which he has done: on the word of two or three witnesses a question is to be judged.
16. If a false witness makes a statement against a man, saying that he has done wrong,
17. Then the two men, between whom the argument has taken place, are to come before the Lord, before the priests and judges who are then in power;
18. And the judges will have the question looked into with care: and if the witness is seen to be false and to have made a false statement against his brother,
19. Then do to him what it was his purpose to do to his brother: and so put away the evil from among you.
20. And the rest of the people, hearing of it, will be full of fear, and never again do such evil among you.
21. Have no pity; let life be given for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 20 / Basic English

1. When you go out to war against other nations, and come face to face with horses and war-carriages and armies greater in number than yourselves, have no fear of them: for the Lord your God is with you, who took you up out of the land of Egypt.
2. And when you are on the point of attacking, let the priest come forward and say to the people,
3. Give ear, O Israel: today you are going forward to the fight; let your heart be strong; do not let uncontrolled fear overcome you because of those who are against you;
4. For the Lord your God goes with you, fighting for you to give you salvation from those who are against you.
5. And let the overseers say to the people, If there is any man who has made for himself a new house and has not gone into it, let him go back to his house, so that in the event of his death in the fight, another may not take his house for himself.
6. Or if any man has made a vine-garden without taking the first-fruits of it, let him go back to his house, so that in the event of his death in the fight, another may not be the first to make use of the fruit.
7. Or if any man is newly married and has had no sex relations with his wife, let him go back to his house, so that in the event of his death in the fight, another man may not take her.
8. And let the overseers go on to say to the people, If there is any man whose heart is feeble with fear, let him go back to his house before he makes the hearts of his countrymen feeble.
9. Then, after saying these words to the people, let the overseers put captains over the army.
10. When you come to a town, before attacking it, make an offer of peace.
11. And if it gives you back an answer of peace, opening its doors to you, then all the people in it may be put to forced work as your servants.
12. If however it will not make peace with you, but war, then let it be shut in on all sides:
13. And when the Lord your God has given it into your hands, let every male in it be put to death without mercy.
14. But the women and the children and the cattle and everything in the town and all its wealth, you may take for yourselves: the wealth of your haters, which the Lord your God has given you, will be your food.
15. So you are to do to all the towns far away, which are not the towns of these nations.
16. But in the towns of these peoples whose land the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage, let no living thing be kept from death:
17. Give them up to the curse; the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has given you orders:
18. So that you may not take them as your example and do all the disgusting things which they do in the worship of their gods, so sinning against the Lord your God.
19. If in war a town is shut in by your armies for a long time, do not let its trees be cut down and made waste; for their fruit will be your food; are the trees of the countryside men for you to take up arms against them?
20. Only those trees which you are certain are not used for food may be cut down and put to destruction: and you are to make walls of attack against the town till it is taken.

Psalms 90 / Basic English

1. <A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.> Lord, you have been our resting-place in all generations.
2. Before the mountains were made, before you had given birth to the earth and the world, before time was, and for ever, you are God.
3. You send man back to his dust; and say, Go back, you children of men.
4. For to you a thousand years are no more than yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.
5. ...
6. In the morning it is green; in the evening it is cut down, and becomes dry.
7. We are burned up by the heat of your passion, and troubled by your wrath.
8. You have put our evil doings before you, our secret sins in the light of your face.
9. For all our days have gone by in your wrath; our years come to an end like a breath.
10. The measure of our life is seventy years; and if through strength it may be eighty years, its pride is only trouble and sorrow, for it comes to an end and we are quickly gone.
11. Who has knowledge of the power of your wrath, or who takes note of the weight of your passion?
12. So give us knowledge of the number of our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13. Come back, O Lord; how long? let your purpose for your servants be changed.
14. In the morning give us your mercy in full measure; so that we may have joy and delight all our days.
15. Make us glad in reward for the days of our sorrow, and for the years in which we have seen evil.
16. Make your work clear to your servants, and your glory to their children.
17. Let the pleasure of the Lord our God be on us: O Lord, give strength to the work of our hands.

Psalms 91 / Basic English

1. Happy is he whose resting-place is in the secret of the Lord, and under the shade of the wings of the Most High;
2. Who says of the Lord, He is my safe place and my tower of strength: he is my God, in whom is my hope.
3. He will take you out of the bird-net, and keep you safe from wasting disease.
4. You will be covered by his feathers; under his wings you will be safe: his good faith will be your salvation.
5. You will have no fear of the evil things of the night, or of the arrow in flight by day,
6. Or of the disease which takes men in the dark, or of the destruction which makes waste when the sun is high.
7. You will see a thousand falling by your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you.
8. Only with your eyes will you see the reward of the evil-doers.
9. Because you have said, I am in the hands of the Lord, the Most High is my safe resting-place;
10. No evil will come on you, and no disease will come near your tent.
11. For he will give you into the care of his angels to keep you wherever you go.
12. In their hands they will keep you up, so that your foot may not be crushed against a stone.
13. You will put your foot on the lion and the snake; the young lion and the great snake will be crushed under your feet.
14. Because he has given me his love, I will take him out of danger: I will put him in a place of honour, because he has kept my name in his heart.
15. When his cry comes up to me, I will give him an answer: I will be with him in trouble; I will make him free from danger and give him honour.
16. With long life will he be rewarded; and I will let him see my salvation.