Bible in Basic English
Luke, 1
Birth of Jesus
1:1 AS A number of attempts have been made to put together in order an account of those events which took place among us,
2 As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word,
3 It seemed good to me, having made observation, with great care, of the direction of events in their order, to put the facts in writing for you, most noble Theophilus ;
4 So that you might have certain knowledge of those things about which you were given teaching.
1:5 In the days of Herod, king of Judaea, there was a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the order of Abijah; and he had a wife of the family of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
6 They were upright in the eyes of God, keeping all the rules and orders of God, and doing no wrong.
7 And they were without children, because Elisabeth had never given birth, and they were at that time very old.
1:8 Now it came about that in his turn he was acting as priest before God,
9 And as was the way of the priests, he had to go into the Temple to see to the burning of perfumes.
10 And all the people were offering prayers outside, at the time of the burning of perfumes.
11 And he saw an angel of the Lord in his place on the right side of the altar.
12 And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear came on him.
13 But the angel said, Have no fear, Zacharias, for your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your wife Elisabeth will have a son, and his name will be John.
14 And you will be glad and have great delight; and numbers of people will have joy at his birth.
15 For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord; he will not take wine or strong drink; and he will be full of the Spirit of God from his birth.
16 And through him great numbers of the children of Israel will be turned to the Lord their God.
17 And he will go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and wrongdoers to the way of righteousness; to make ready a people whose hearts have been turned to the Lord.
18 And Zacharias said to the angel, How may I be certain of this ? For I am an old man, and my wife is far on in years.
19 And the angel, answering, said, I am Gabriel, whose place is before God; I have been sent to say these words to you and to give you this good news.
20 Now, see, you will be without voice or language till the day when these things come about, because you had not faith in my words, which will have effect at the right time.
21 And the people were waiting for Zacharias and were surprised because he was in the Temple for such a long time.
22 And when he came out he was not able to say anything, and they saw that he had seen a vision in the Temple; and he was making signs to them without words.
23 And when the days of his work in the Temple were ended, he went back to his house.
1:24 After that time, Elisabeth, being certain that she was to become a mother, kept herself from men's eyes for five months, saying,
25 The Lord has done this to me, for his eyes were on me, to take away my shame in the eyes of men.
1:26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin who was to be married to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary.
28 And the angel came in to her and said, Peace be with you, to whom special grace has been given; the Lord is with you.
29 But she was greatly troubled at his words, and said to herself, What may be the purpose of these words ?
30 And the angel said to her, Have no fear, Mary, for you have God's approval.
31 And see, you will give birth to a son, and his name will be Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be named the Son of the Most High : and the Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his father:
33 He will have rule over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
34 And Mary said to the angel, How may this be, because I have had no knowledge of a man ?
35 And the angel in answer said to her, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will come to rest on you, and so that which will come to birth will be named holy, Son of God.
36 Even now Elisabeth, who is of your family, is to be a mother, though she is old : and this is the sixth month with her who was without children.
37 For there is nothing which God is not able to do.
38 And Mary said : I am the servant of the Lord ; may it be to me as you say. And the angel went away.
1:39 Then Mary got up and went quickly into the high lands, to a town of Judah ;
40 And went into the house of Zacharias and took Elisabeth in her arms.
41 And when the voice of Mary came to the ears of Elisabeth, the baby made a sudden move inside her; then Elisabeth was full of the Holy Spirit,
42 And she said with a loud voice : May blessing be on you among women, and a blessing on the child of your body.
43 How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me ?
44 For, truly, when the sound of your voice came to my ears, the baby in my body made a sudden move for joy.
45 Happy will she be who had faith that the things which the Lord has said to her will be done.
46 And Mary said : My soul gives glory to God ;
47 My spirit is glad in God my Saviour.
48 For he has had pity on his servant, though she is poor and lowly placed : and from this hour will all generations give witness to the blessing which has come to me.
49 For he who is strong has done great things for me ; and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for all generations in whom is the fear of him.
51 With his arm he has done acts of power ; he has put to flight those who have pride in their hearts.
52 He has put down kings from their seats, lifting up on high the men of low degree.
53 Those who had no food he made full of good things ; the men of wealth he sent away with nothing in their hands ;
54 His help he has given to Israel, his servant, so that he might keep in mind his mercy to Abraham and his seed for ever,
55 As he gave his word to our fathers.
56 And Mary was with her for about three months and then went back to her house.
1:57 Now it was time for Elisabeth to give birth, and she had a son.
58 And it came to the ears of her neighbours and relations that the Lord had been very good to her, and they took part in her joy.
59 And on the eighth day they came to see to the circumcision of the child, and they would have given him the name of Zacharias, his father's name ;
60 But his mother made answer and said, No, his name is John.
61 And they said, Not one of your relations has that name.
62 And they made signs to his father, to say what name was to be given to him.
63 And he sent for writing materials and put down : His name is John ; and they were all surprised.
64 And straight away his mouth was open and his tongue was free and he gave praise to God.
65 And fear came on all those who were living round about them : and there was much talk about all these things in all the hill-country of Judaea.
66 And all who had word of them kept them in their minds and said, What will this child be ? For the hand of the Lord was with him.
1:67 And his father, Zacharias, was full of the Holy Spirit, and with the voice of a prophet said these words :
68 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and made them free,
69 Lifting up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
70 (As he said, by the mouth of his holy prophets, from the earliest times,)
71 Salvation from those who are against us, and from the hands of those who have hate for us ;
72 To do acts of mercy to our fathers and to keep in mind his holy word,
73 The oath which he made to Abraham, our father,
74 That we, being made free from the fear of those who are against us, might give him worship,
75 In righteousness and holy living before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be named the prophet of the Most High : you will go before the face of the Lord, to make ready his ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation to his people, through the forgiveness of sins,
78 Because of the loving mercies of our God, by which the dawn from heaven has come to us,
79 To give light to those in dark places, and in the shade of death, so that our feet may be guided into the way of peace.
80 And the child became tall, and strong in spirit; and he was living in the waste land till the day when he came before the eyes of Israel.
Luke, 2
Boy Jesus in the Temple
2:1 Now it came about in those days that an order went out from Caesar Augustus that there was to be a numbering of all the world.
2:2 This was the first numbering, which was made when Quirinius was ruler of Syria.
2:3 And all men went to be numbered, everyone to his town.
2:4 And Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the town of Nazareth, into Judaea, to Beth-lehem, the town of David, because he was of the house and family of David,
2:5 To be put on the list with Mary, his future wife, who was about to become a mother.
2:6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
2:7 And she had her first son; and folding him in linen, she put him to rest in the place where the cattle had their food, because there was no room for them in the house.
2:8 And in the same country there were keepers of sheep in the fields, watching over their flock by night.
2:9 And an angel of the Lord came to them, and the glory of the Lord was shining round about them : and fear came on them.
2:10 And the angel said, Have no fear; for truly, I give you good news of great joy which will be for all the people :
2:11 For on this day, in the town of David, a Saviour has come to birth, who is Christ the Lord.
And this is the sign to you : you will see a young child folded in linen, in the place where the cattle have their food.
2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a great band of spirits from heaven, giving praise to God, and saying,
2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased.
2:15 And when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the keepers of the sheep said to one another, Let us go now to Beth-lehem, and see this thing which has come about, which the Lord has made clear to us.
2:16 And they came quickly, and saw Mary and Joseph, and the child in the place where the cattle had their food.
2:17 And when they saw it, they gave them an account of the things which had been said to them about the child.
2:18 And all those to whose ears it came were full of wonder at the things said by the keepers of the sheep.
2:19 But Mary kept all these words in her heart, and gave much thought to them.
2:20 Then the keepers of the sheep went back, giving glory and praise to God for all the things which had come to their ears and which they had seen, as it had been said to them.
2:21 And when, after eight days, the time came for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given to him before his birth.
2:22 And when the necessary days for making them clean by the law of Moses had come to an end, they took him to Jerusalem to give him to the Lord
2:23 (As it says in the law of the Lord, Every mother's first male child is to be holy to the Lord),
2:24 And to make an offering, as it is ordered in the law of the Lord, of two doves or other young birds.
2:25 And there was then in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon; and he was an upright man, fearing God and waiting for the comfort of Israel : and the Holy Spirit was on him.
2:26 And he had knowledge, through the Holy Spirit, that he would not see death till he had seen the Lord's Christ.
2:27 And full of the Spirit he came into the Temple ; and when the father and mother came in with the child Jesus, to do with him what was ordered by the law,
2:28 Then he took him in his arms and gave praise to God and said,
2:29 Now you are letting your servant go in peace, O Lord, as you have said ;
2:30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
2:31 Which you have made ready before the face of all nations;
2:32 A light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.
2:33 And his father and mother were full of wonder at the things which were said about him.
2:34 And Simeon gave them his blessing and said to Mary, his mother, See, this child will be the cause of the downfall and the lifting up of great numbers of people in Israel, and he will be a sign against which hard words will be said;
2:35 (And a sword will go through your heart;) so that the secret thoughts of men may come to light.
2:36 And there was one, Anna, a woman prophet, the daughter of Phanuel, of the family of Asher (she was very old, and after seven years of married life
2:37 She had been a widow for eighty-four years); she was in the Temple at all times, worshipping with prayers and going without food, night and day.
2:38 And coming up at that time, she gave praise to God, talking of him to all those who were waiting for the freeing of Jerusalem.
2:39 And when they had done all the things which were ordered by the law of the Lord, they went back to Galilee, to Nazareth, the town where they were living.
2:40 And the child became tall and strong and full of wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
2:41 And every year his father and mother went to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover.
2:42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up, as their way was, to the feast;
2:43 And when the days of the feast came to an end and they were going back, the boy Jesus was still in Jerusalem, but they had no knowledge of it:
2:44 And in the belief that he was with some of their number, they went a day's journey; and after looking for him among their relations and friends,
2:45 And seeing that he was not there, they went back to Jerusalem, to make search for him.
2:46 And after three days they came across him in the Temple, seated among the wise men, giving ear to their words and putting questions to them.
2:47 And all to whose ears it came were full of wonder at his knowledge and the answers which he gave.
2:48 And when they saw him they were surprised, and his mother said to him, Son, why have you done this to us ? See, your father and I have been looking for you with sorrow.
2:49 And he said to them, Why were you looking for me ? Was it not clear to you that my right place was in my Father's house ?
2:50 And his words seemed strange to them.
2:51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth; and did as he was ordered : and his mother kept all these words in her heart.
2:52 And Jesus was increasing in wisdom and in years, and in grace before God and men.
Luke, 3
John preaches baptism
3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being ruler of Judaea, and Herod being king of Galilee, his brother Philip king of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias king of Abilene,
2 When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the waste land.
3 And he came into all the country round about Jordan, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed.
4 As it says in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight.
5 Every valley will be lifted up, and all the mountains and hills made low, and the twisted will be made straight, and the rough ways smooth;
6 And all flesh will see the salvation of God.
3:7 So he said to the people who went out to him for baptism : You offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come ?
8 Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father : for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham.
9 And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees ; and every tree which does not have good fruit will be cut down and put into the fire.
3:10 And the people put questions to him, saying, What have we to do ?
11 And he made answer and said to them, He who has two coats, let him give to him who has not even one; and he who has food, let him do the same.
12 Then tax-farmers came to him for baptism and said to him, Master, what have we to do ?
13 And he said to them, Do not make an attempt to get more money than the right amount.
14 And men of the army put questions to him, saying, And what have we to do ? And he said to them, Do no violent acts to any man, and do not take anything without right, and let your payment be enough for you.
3:15 And while the people were waiting, and all men were questioning in their hearts about John, if he was the Christ or not,
16 John made answer, saying to them all, Truly, I give you baptism with water, but one is coming who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo : he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit, and with fire :
17 In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned in the fire which will never be put out.
3:18 And so comforting them with these and other words, he gave the good news to the people ;
19 But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and other evil things which Herod had done,
20 Did this most evil thing of all, and had John shut up in prison.
3:21 Now it came about that when all the people had been given baptism, Jesus, having had baptism with them, was in prayer, when, the heaven being open,
22 The Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove, and a voice came from heaven, saying, You are my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
3:23 And Jesus at this time was about thirty years old, being the son (as it seemed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
3:24 The son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
3:25 The son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,
3:26 The son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda,
3:27 The son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,
3:28 The son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,
3:29 The son of Jesus, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
3:30 The son of Symeon, the son of Judas, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,
3:31 The son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
3:32 The son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,
3:33 The son of Amminadab, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,
3:34 The son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
3:35 The son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,
3:36 The son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
3:37 The son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,
3:38 The son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Luke, 4
Rejection at Nazareth
4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, came back from the Jordan, and was guided by the Spirit in the waste land
2 For forty days, being tested by the Evil One. And he had no food in those days ; and when they came to an end, he was in need of food.
3 And the Evil One said to him, If you are the Son of God, give orders to this stone to become bread.
4 And Jesus made answer to him, It has been said in the Writings, Bread is not man's only need.
5 And he took him up and let him see all the kingdoms of the earth in a minute of time.
6 And the Evil One said, I will give you authority over all these, and the glory of them, for it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone at my pleasure.
7 If then you will give worship to me, it will all be yours.
8 And Jesus in answer said to him, It has been said in the Writings, Give worship to the Lord your God, and be his servant only.
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and put him on the highest point of the Temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, let yourself go down from here; for it is said in the Writings,
10 He will give his angels orders to take care of you :
11 And, In their hands they will keep you up, so that your foot may not be crushed against a stone.
12 And Jesus made answer and said to him, It is said in the Writings, You may not put the Lord your God to the test.
13 And when all these tests were ended the Evil One went away from him for a time.
4:14 And Jesus came back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news of him went through all the country round about.
15 And he was teaching in their Synagogues and all men gave him praise.
4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been as a child, and he went, as his way was, into the Synagogue on the Sabbath, and got up to give a reading.
17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and, opening the book, he came on the place where it is said,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,
19 To give knowledge that the year of the Lord's good pleasure is come.
20 And shutting the book he gave it back to the servant and took his seat : and the eyes of all in the Synagogue were fixed on him.
21 Then he said to them, Today this word has come true in your hearing.
22 And they were all giving witness, with wonder, to the words of grace which came from his mouth : and they said, Is not this the son of Joseph ?
23 And he said to them, Without doubt you will say to me, Let the medical man make himself well : the things which to our knowledge were done at Capernaum, do them here in your country.
24 And he said to them, Truly I say to you, No prophet is honoured in his country.
25 Truly I say to you, There were a number of widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months and there was no food in the land;
26 But Elijah was not sent to one of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
27 And there were a number of lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and not one of them was made clean, but only Naaman the Syrian.
28 And all who were in the Synagogue were very angry when these things were said to them.
29 And they got up and took him out of the town to the edge of the mountain on which their town was, so that they might send him down to his death.
30 But he came through them and went on his way.
4:31 And he came down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee ; and he was giving them teaching on the Sabbath.
32 And they were surprised at his teaching, for his word was with authority.
33 And there was a man in the Synagogue who had an unclean spirit; and he gave a loud cry and said,
34 Let us be ! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth ? have you come to put an end to us ? I have knowledge who you are, the Holy One of God.
35 And Jesus said to him, Be quiet, and come out of him. And when the evil spirit had put him down on the earth in the middle of them, he came out of him, having done him no damage.
36 And wonder came on them all and they said to one another, What are these words ? for with authority and power he gives orders to the evil spirits and they come out.
37 And there was much talk about him in all the places round about.
4:38 And he got up and went out of the Synagogue and went into the house of Simon. And Simon's wife's mother was very ill with a burning heat; and in answer to their prayers for her
39 He went near her, and with a sharp word he gave orders to the disease and it went away from her; and straight away she got up and took care of their needs.
4:40 And at sundown all those who had anyone ill with any sort of disease, took them to him, and he put his hands on every one of them and made them well.
41 And evil spirits came out of a number of them, crying out and saying, You are the Son of God. But he gave them sharp orders not to say a word, because they had knowledge that he was the Christ.
4:42 And when it was day, he came out and went to a waste place; and great numbers of people came looking for him, and they came to him and would have kept him from going away.
43 But he said to them, I have to give the good news of the kingdom of God in other towns, because that is why I was sent.
44 And he was teaching in the Synagogues of Galilee.
< Previous
< BBE >
Next >
Provided and Thanks to ZbEnglish.net