Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Deuteronomy 21 / Basic English

1. If, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you come across the dead body of a man in the open country, and you have no idea who has put him to death:
2. Then your responsible men and your judges are to come out, and give orders for the distance from the dead body to the towns round about it to be measured;
3. And whichever town is nearest to the body, the responsible men of that town are to take from the herd a young cow which has never been used for work or put under the yoke;
4. And they are to take the cow into a valley where there is flowing water, and which is not ploughed or planted, and there the neck of the cow is to be broken:
5. Then the priests, the sons of Levi, are to come near; for they have been marked out by the Lord your God to be his servants and to give blessings in the name of the Lord; and by their decision every argument and every blow is to be judged:
6. And all the responsible men of that town which is nearest to the dead man, washing their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the valley,
7. Will say, This death is not the work of our hands and our eyes have not seen it.
8. Have mercy, O Lord, on your people Israel whom you have made free, and take away from your people the crime of a death without cause. Then they will no longer be responsible for the man's death.
9. So you will take away the crime of a death without cause from among you, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
10. When you go out to war against other nations, and the Lord your God gives them up into your hands and you take them as prisoners;
11. If among the prisoners you see a beautiful woman and it is your desire to make her your wife;
12. Then take her back to your house; and let her hair and her nails be cut;
13. And let her take off the dress in which she was made prisoner and go on living in your house and weeping for her father and mother for a full month: and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she will be your wife.
14. But if you have no delight in her, you are to let her go wherever she will; you may not take a price for her as if she was your property, for you have made use of her for your pleasure.
15. If a man has two wives, one greatly loved and the other hated, and the two of them have had children by him; and if the first son is the child of the hated wife:
16. Then when he gives his property to his sons for their heritage, he is not to put the son of his loved one in the place of the first son, the son of the hated wife:
17. But he is to give his first son his birthright, and twice as great a part of his property: for he is the first-fruits of his strength and the right of the first son is his.
18. If a man has a son who is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, who gives no attention to the voice of his father and mother, and will not be ruled by them, though they give him punishment:
19. Then let his father and mother take him to the responsible men of the town, to the public place;
20. And say to them, This son of ours is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, he will not give attention to us; he gives himself up to pleasure and strong drink.
21. Then he is to be stoned to death by all the men of the town: so you are to put away the evil from among you; and all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear.
22. If a man does a crime for which the punishment is death, and he is put to death by hanging him on a tree;
23. Do not let his body be on the tree all night, but put it to rest in the earth the same day; for the man who undergoes hanging is cursed by God; so do not make unclean the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage.

Deuteronomy 22 / Basic English

1. If you see your brother's ox or his sheep wandering, do not go by without helping, but take them back to your brother.
2. If their owner is not near, or if you are not certain who he is, then take the beast to your house and keep it till its owner comes in search of it, and then you are to give it back to him.
3. Do the same with his ass or his robe or anything which has gone from your brother's keeping and which you have come across: do not keep it to yourself.
4. If you see your brother's ox or his ass falling down on the road, do not go by without giving him help in lifting it up again.
5. It is not right for a woman to be dressed in man's clothing, or for a man to put on a woman's robe: whoever does such things is disgusting to the Lord your God.
6. If by chance you see a place which a bird has made for itself in a tree or on the earth, with young ones or eggs, and the mother bird seated on the young ones or on the eggs, do not take the mother bird with the young:
7. See that you let the mother bird go, but the young ones you may take; so it will be well for you and your life will be long.
8. If you are building a house, make a railing for the roof, so that the blood of any man falling from it will not come on your house.
9. Do not have your vine-garden planted with two sorts of seed: or all of it may become a loss, the seed you have put in as well as the increase.
10. Do not do your ploughing with an ox and an ass yoked together.
11. Do not have clothing made of two sorts of thread, wool and linen together.
12. On the four edges of your robe, with which your body is covered, put ornaments of twisted threads.
13. If any man takes a wife, and having had connection with her, has no delight in her,
14. And says evil things about her and gives her a bad name, saying, I took this woman, and when I had connection with her it was clear to me that she was not a virgin:
15. Then let the girl's father and mother put before the responsible men of the town, in the public place, signs that the girl was a virgin:
16. And let the girl's father say to the responsible men, I gave my daughter to this man for his wife, but he has no love for her;
17. And now he has put shame on her, saying that she is not a virgin; but here is the sign that she is a virgin. Then they are to put her clothing before the responsible men of the town.
18. Then the responsible men of the town are to give the man his punishment;
19. They will take from him a hundred shekels of silver, which are to be given to the father of the girl, because he has given an evil name to a virgin of Israel: she will go on being his wife, he may never put her away all his life.
20. But if what he has said is true, and she is seen to be not a virgin,
21. Then they are to make the girl come to the door of her father's house and she will be stoned to death by the men of the town, because she has done evil and put shame on Israel, by acting as a loose woman in her father's house: so you are to put away evil from among you.
22. If a man is taken in the act of going in to a married woman, the two of them, the man as well as the woman, are to be put to death: so you are to put away the evil from Israel.
23. If a young virgin has given her word to be married to a man, and another man meeting her in the town, has connection with her;
24. Then you are to take the two of them to the doorway of the town, and have them stoned to death; the young virgin, because she gave no cry for help, though it was in the town, and the man, because he has put shame on his neighbour's wife: so you are to put away evil from among you.
25. But if the man, meeting such a virgin in the open country, takes her by force, then only the man is to be put to death;
26. Nothing is to be done to the virgin, because there is no cause of death in her: it is the same as if a man made an attack on his neighbour and put him to death:
27. For he came across her in the open country, and there was no one to come to the help of the virgin in answer to her cry.
28. If a man sees a young virgin, who has not given her word to be married to anyone, and he takes her by force and has connection with her, and discovery is made of it;
29. Then the man will have to give the virgin's father fifty shekels of silver and make her his wife, because he has put shame on her; he may never put her away all his life.
30. A man may not take his father's wife or have sex relations with a woman who is his father's.

Psalms 92 / Basic English

1. <A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.> It is a good thing to give praise to the Lord, and to make melody to your name, O Most High;
2. To make clear your mercy in the morning, and your unchanging faith every night;
3. On a ten-corded instrument, and on an instrument of music with a quiet sound.
4. For you, O Lord, have made me glad through your work; I will have joy in the works of your hands.
5. O Lord, how great are your works! and your thoughts are very deep.
6. A man without sense has no knowledge of this; and a foolish man may not take it in.
7. When the sinners come up like the grass, and all the workers of evil do well for themselves, it is so that their end may be eternal destruction.
8. But you, O Lord, are on high for ever.
9. For see! your haters, O Lord, will be put to death; all the workers of evil will be put to flight;
10. But my horn is lifted up like the horn of the ox: the best oil is flowing on my head.
11. My eyes have seen trouble come on my haters; my ears have news of the fate of the evil-doers who have come up against me.
12. The good man will be like a tall tree in his strength; his growth will be as the wide-stretching trees of Lebanon.
13. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord will come up tall and strong in his gardens.
14. They will give fruit even when they are old; they will be fertile and full of growth;
15. For a sign that the Lord is upright; he is my Rock, there is no deceit in him.

Psalms 93 / Basic English

1. The Lord is King; he is clothed with glory; the Lord is clothed with strength; power is the cord of his robe; the world is fixed, so that it may not be moved.
2. The seat of your power has been from the past; you are eternal.
3. The rivers send up, O Lord, the rivers send up their voices; they send them up with a loud cry.
4. The Lord in heaven is stronger than the noise of great waters, yes, he is stronger than the great waves of the sea.
5. Your witness is most certain; it is right for your house to be holy, O Lord, for ever.