Bible in Basic English
Some chapters and stories

New Testament
Matthew 1 2 34 5 6 78 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Mark 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Luke 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 13 14 1516 17 18 1920 21 22 2324
John 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
The Acts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 2728
Romans 1 2 34 5 6 78 9 10 1112 13 14 1516
1 Corinthians1 23 45 67 89 1011 1213 1415 16
2 Corinthians1 23 45 67 8 9 1011 1213
Galatians1 23 45 6
Ephesians1 23 45 6
Philippians1 23 4
Colossians1 23 4
1,2 Thessalonians1 23 45 1 23
1,2 Timothy 1 23 45 6  12 34
Titus 12 3
Philemon 1
Hebrews 1 23 45 67 89 1011 1213
James 12 34 5
1,2 Peter 12 34 5 1 2 3
1,2,3 John 1 2 3 4 5 1 1
Jude 1
Revelation 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Stories
Christmas Sermon on the Mount
Crucifixion Easter
Statements
Nicene Creed
Old Testament
Genesis12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 1314 1516 17 18 1920 2122 23 . . .
Ruth 1 2 3 4
Job1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42
Psalms 1 2 3 4 5 6 15 23 93 100 117 123 131 133 134 149 150
Song of Solomon 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Joel1 2 3
Obediah1
Jonah 1 2 3 4
Haggai1 2
Nahum1 23
Habakkuk1 2 3
Zephaniah1 2 3
Malachi1 2 3 4
THE BIBLE in BASIC ENGLISH   Cambridge University Press.
NOTE    
    The form in which the Bible is given here is not simply another example of the Bible story put into present-day English. The languaged used is Basic English.1
    Basic English, produced by C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute in England, is a simple form of the English language which, with 850 words,2 is able to give the sense of anything which may be said in English.
    Working with the Orthological Institute, a Committee under the direction of Profesor S. H., Hooke, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Studies in the University of London, was responsible for a new English form of the Bible made from the Hebrew and the Greek.
    In this undertaking, the latest ideas and discoveries in connection with the work of putting the Bible into other languages were taken into acount, and when the Basic form was complete it was gone over in detail by a Committee formed by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press.
    The Basic Bible, which in this way was watched over by two separate groups of experts through its different stages, is designed to be used wherever the English language has taken root.
    Frequently, the narrow limits of the word-list made it hard to keep the Basic completely parallel with the Hebrew and the Greek ; but great trouble was taken with every verse and every line to make certain that there are no errors of sense and no loose wording. It is only natural that, from time to time, some of the more delicate shades of sense were not covered ; on the other hand, it is well to keep in mind that in the Authorised (King James) Version the power and music of the language sometimes take so much of the reader's attention that these more delicate shades are overlooked.
    In fact, the Basic expert is forced, because of the limited material with which he is working, to give special care to the sense of the words before him. There is no question of the Basic work taking the place of the Authorised Version or coming into competition with it ; but it may be said of the Basic English Bible that it is in a marked degreee straightforward and simple and that these qualities give it an independent value.
Back to : Ogden's Basic English      
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