Bible in Basic English

GENESIS, 1
The Making of the Earth

1:1.     At the first God made the heaven and the earth.
2. And the earth was waste and without form; and it was dark on the face of the deep : and the Spirit of God was moving on the face of the waters.

1:3.     And God said, Let there be light : and there was light.
4. And God, looking on the light, saw that it was good : and God made a division between the light and the dark,
5. Naming the light, Day, and the dark, Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

1:6.     And God said, Let there be a solid arch stretching over the waters, parting the waters from the waters.
7. And God made the arch for a division between the waters which were under the arch and those which were over it : and it was so.
8. And God gave the arch the name of Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

1:9.     And God said, Let the waters under the heaven come together in one place, and let the dry land be seen : and it was so.
10. And God gave the dry land the name of Earth; and the waters together in their place were named Seas : and God saw that it was good.
11. And God said, Let grass come up on the earth, and plants producing seed, and fruit-trees giving fruit, in which is their seed, after their sort : and it was so.
12. And grass came up on the earth, and every plant producing seed of its sort, and every tree producing fruit, in which is its seed, of its sort : and God saw that it was good.
13. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

1:14.     And God said, Let there be lights in the arch of heaven, for a division between the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for marking the changes of the year, and for days and for years:.
15. And let them be for lights in the arch of heaven to give light on the earth : and it was so.
16. And God made the two great lights : the greater light to be the ruler of the day, and the smaller light to be the ruler of the night : and he made the stars.
17. And God put them in the arch of heaven, to give light on the earth;
18. To have rule over the day and the night, and for a division between the light and the dark : and God saw that it was good.
19. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20.     And God said, Let the waters be full of living things, and let birds be in flight over the earth under the arch of heaven.
21. And God made great sea-beasts, and every sort of living and moving thing with which the waters were full, and every sort of winged bird : and God saw that it was good.
22. And God gave them his blessing, saying, Be fertile and have increase, making all the waters of the seas full, and let the birds be increased in the earth.
23. And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

1:24.     And God said, Let the earth give birth to all sorts of living things, cattle and all things moving on the earth, and beasts of the earth after their sort : and it was so.
25. And God made the beast of the earth after its sort, and the cattle after their sort, and everything moving on the face of the earth after its sort : and God saw that it was good.

1:26.     And God said, Let us make man in our image, like us : and let him have rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every living thing which goes flat on the earth.
27. And God made man in his image, in the image of God he made him : male and female he made them.
28. And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it; be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing moving on the earth.
29. And God said, See, I have given you every plant producing seed, on the face of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit producing seed : they will be for your food:
30. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and every living thing moving on the face of the earth I have given every green plant for food : and it was so.
31. And God saw everything which he had made and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

GENESIS, 2
Garden of Eden

2:1   And the heaven and the earth and all things in them were complete.
2:2 And on the seventh day God came to the end of all his work; and on the seventh day he took his rest from all the work which he had done.
2:3 And God gave his blessing to the seventh day and made it holy : because on that day he took his rest from all the work which he had made and done.

2:4     These are the generations of the heaven and the earth when they were made.
2:5 In the day when the Lord God made earth and heaven there were no plants of the field on the earth, and no grass had come up : for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to do work on the land.
2:6 But a mist went up from the earth, watering all the face of the land.
2:7 And the Lord God made man from the dust of the earth, breathing into him the breath of life : and man became a living soul.
2:8 And the Lord God made a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had made.
2:9 And out of the earth the Lord made every tree to come, delighting the eye and good for food; and in the middle of the garden, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

2:10     And a river went out of Eden giving water to the garden; and from there it was parted and became four streams.
2:11 The name of the first is Pishon, which goes round about all the land of Havilah where there is gold.
2:12 And the gold of that land is good : there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
2:13 And the name of the second river is Gihon : this river goes round all the land of Cush.
2:14 And the name of the third river is Tigris, which goes to the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

2:15     And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to do work in it and take care of it.
2:16 And the Lord God gave the man orders, saying, You may freely take of the fruit of every tree of the garden :
2:17 But of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not take; for on the day when you take of it, death will certainly come to you.

2:18     And the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be by himself : I will make one like himself as a help to him
2:19 And from the earth the Lord God made every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and took them to the man to see what names he would give them : and whatever name he gave to any living thing, that was its name.
2:20 And the man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air and to every beast of the field; but Adam had no one like himself as a help.
2:21 And the Lord God sent a deep sleep on the man, and took one of the bones from his side while he was sleeping, joining up the flesh again in its place :
2:22 And the bone which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman, and took her to the man.
2:23 And the man said, This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh : let her name be Woman because she was taken out of Man.
2:24     For this cause will a man go away from his father and his mother and be joined to his wife; and they will be one flesh.
2:25 And the man and his wife were without clothing, and they had no sense of shame.

GENESIS, 3
Fruit of the Tree

3:1     Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God truly said that you may not take of the fruit of any tree in the garden ? 3:2 And the woman said, We may take of the fruit of the trees in the garden : 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, If you take of it or put your hands on it, death will come to you. 3:4 And the snake said, Death will not certainly come to you : 3:5 For God sees that on the day when you take of its fruit, your eyes will be open, and you will be as gods, having knowledge of good and evil. 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband. 3:7 And their eyes were open and they were conscious that they had no clothing and they made themselves coats of leaves stitched together.

3:8     And there came to them the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening wind : and the man and his wife went to a secret place among the trees of the garden, away from the eyes of the Lord God. 3:9 And the voice of the Lord God came to the man, saying, Where are you ? 3:10 And he said, Hearing your voice in the garden I was full of fear, because I was without clothing : and I kept myself from your eyes. 3:11 And he said, Who gave you the knowledge that you were without clothing ? Have you taken of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take ? 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I took it. 3:13 And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done ? And the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I took it. 3:14 And the Lord God said to the snake, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle and every beast of the field; you will go flat on the earth, and dust will be your food all the days of your life : 3:15 And there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed : by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded. 3:16 To the woman he said, Great will be your pain in childbirth; in sorrow will your children come to birth; still your desire will be for your husband, but he will be your master. 3:17 And to Adam he said, Because you gave ear to the voice of your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain you will get your food from it all your life. 3:18 Thorns and waste plants will come up, and the plants of the field will be your food; 3:19 With the hard work of your hands you will get your bread till you go back to the earth from which you were taken : for dust you are and to the dust you will go back.

3:20     And the man gave his wife the name of Eve because she was the mother of all who have life. 3:21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins for their clothing.

3:22     And the Lord God said, Now the man has become like one of us, having knowledge of good and evil; and now if he puts out his hand and takes of the fruit of the tree of life, he will go on living for ever. 3:23 So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to be a worker on the earth from which he was taken. 3:24 So he sent the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden he put winged ones and a flaming sword turning every way to keep the way to the tree of life.

GENESIS, 4
Cain and Able

4:1     And the man had connection with Eve his wife, and she became with child and gave birth to Cain, and said, I have got a man from the Lord. 4:2 Then again she became with child and gave birth to Abel, his brother. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a farmer. 4:3 And after a time, Cain gave to the Lord an offering of the fruits of the earth. 4:4 And Abel gave an offering of the young lambs of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord was pleased with Abel's offering; 4:5 But in Cain and his offering he had no pleasure. And Cain was angry and his face became sad. 4:6 And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry ? and why is your face sad ? 4:7 If you do well, will you not have honour ? and if you do wrong, sin is waiting at the door, desiring to have you, but do not let it be your master.

4:8     And Cain said to his brother, Let us go into the field : and when they were in the field, Cain made an attack on his brother Abel and put him to death. 4:9 And the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel ? And he said, I have no idea : am I my brother's keeper ? 4:10 And he said, What have you done ? the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the earth. 4:11 And now you are cursed from the earth, whose mouth is open to take your brother's blood from your hand; 4:12 No longer will the earth give you her fruit as the reward of your work; you will be a wanderer in flight over the earth. 4:13 And Cain said, My punishment is greater than my strength. 4:14 You have sent me out this day from the face of the earth and from before your face; I will be a wanderer in flight over the earth, and whoever sees me will put me to death. 4:15 And the Lord said, Truly, if Cain is put to death, seven lives will be taken for his. And the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one might put him to death. 4:16 And Cain went away from before the face of the Lord, and made his living-place in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.

4:17     And Cain had connection with his wife and she became with child and gave birth to Enoch : and he made a town, and gave the town the name of Enoch after his son. 4:18 And Enoch had a son Irad; and Irad became the father of Mehujael; and Mehujael became the father of Methushael; and Methushael became the father of Lamech. 4:19 And Lamech had two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 4:20 And Adah gave birth to Jabal : he was the father of such as are living in tents and keep cattle. 4:21 And his brother's name was Jubal : he was the father of all players on instruments of music. 4:22 And Zillah gave birth to Tubal-cain, who is the father of every maker of cutting instruments of brass and iron : and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

4:23     And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, give ear to my voice; you wives of Lamech, give attention to my words, for I would put a man to death for a wound, and a young man for a blow; 4:24 If seven lives are to be taken as punishment for Cain's death, seventy-seven will be taken for Lamech's.

4:25     And Adam had connection with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son to whom she gave the name of Seth : for she said, God has given me another seed in place of Abel, whom Cain put to death. 4:26 And Seth had a son, and he gave him the name of Enosh : at this time men first made use of the name of the Lord in worship.

GENESIS, 5
Linage of Adam

5:1     This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God made man, he made him in the image of God; 5:2 Male and female he made them, naming them Man, and giving them his blessing on the day when they were made. 5:3 Adam had been living for a hundred and thirty years when he had a son like himself, after his image, and gave him the name of Seth : 5:4 And after the birth of Seth, Adam went on living for eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters : 5:5 And all the years of Adam's life were nine hundred and thirty : and he came to his end.

5:6    And Seth was a hundred and five years old when he became the father of Enosh : 5:7 And he went on living after the birth of Enosh for eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters : 5:8 And all the years of Seth's life were nine hundred and twelve : and he came to his end.

5:9    And Enosh was ninety years old when he became the father of Kenan : 5:10 And after the birth of Kenan, Enosh went on living for eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters : 5:11 And all the years of Enosh were nine hundred and five : and he came to his end.

5:12    And Kenan was seventy years old when he became the father of Mahalalel : 5:13 And after the birth of Mahalalel, Kenan went on living for eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters : 5:14 And all the years of Kenan's life were nine hundred and ten; and he came to his end.

5:15    And Mahalalel was sixty-five years old when he became the father of Jared : 5:16 And after the birth of Jared, Mahalalel went on living for eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters : 5:17 And all the years of Mahalalel's life were eight hundred and ninety-five : and he came to his end.

5:18    And Jared was a hundred and sixty-two years old when he became the father of Enoch : 5:19 And Jared went on living after the birth of Enoch for eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters : 5:20 And all the years of Jared's life were nine hundred and sixty-two : and he came to his end.

5:21    And Enoch was sixty-five years old when he became the father of Methuselah : 5:22 And after the birth of Methuselah, Enoch went on in God's ways for three hundred years, and had sons and daughters : 5:23 And all the years of Enoch's life were three hundred and sixty-five : 5:24 And Enoch went on in God's ways : and he was not seen again, for God took him.

5:25    And Methuselah was a hundred and eighty-seven years old when he became the father of Lamech : 5:26 And after the birth of Lamech, Methuselah went on living for seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters : 5:27 And all the years of Methuselah's life were nine hundred and sixty-nine : and he came to his end.

5:28    And Lamech was a hundred and eighty-two years old when he had a son : 5:29 And he gave him the name of Noah, saying, Truly, he will give us rest from our trouble and the hard work of our hands, because of the earth which was cursed by God. 5:30 And after the birth of Noah, Lamech went on living for five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters : 5:31 And all the years of Lamech's life were seven hundred and seventy-seven : and he came to his end.

5:32    And when Noah was five hundred years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

GENESIS, 6
Noah makes the ark

6:1     And after a time, when men were increasing on the earth, and had daughters, 6:2 The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took wives for themselves from those who were pleasing to them. 6:3 And the Lord said, My spirit will not be in man for ever, for he is only flesh; so the days of his life will be a hundred and twenty years. 6:4 There were men of great strength and size on the earth in those days; and after that, when the sons of God had connection with the daughters of men, they gave birth to children : these were the great men of old days, the men of great name.

6:5     And the Lord saw that the sin of man was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts of his heart were evil. 6:6 And the Lord had sorrow because he had made man on the earth, and grief was in his heart. 6:7 And the Lord said, I will take away man, whom I have made, from the face of the earth, even man and beast and that which goes on the earth and every bird of the air; for I have sorrow for having made them. 6:8 But Noah had grace in the eyes of God.

6:9     These are the generations of Noah. Noah was an upright man and without sin in his generation : he went in the ways of God. 6:10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

6:11     And the earth was evil in God's eyes and full of violent ways. 6:12 And God, looking on the earth, saw that it was evil : for the way of all flesh had become evil on the earth. 6:13 And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come; the earth is full of their violent doings, and now I will put an end to them with the earth. 6:14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood with rooms in it, and make it safe from the water inside and out. 6:15 And this is the way you are to make it : it is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. 6:16 You are to put a window in the ark, a cubit from the roof, and a door in the side of it, and you are to make it with a lower and second and third floors. 6:17 For truly, I will send a great flow of waters over the earth, for the destruction from under the heaven of all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything on the earth will come to an end. 6:18 But with you I will make an agreement; and you will come into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. 6:19 And you will take with you into the ark two of every sort of living thing, and keep them safe with you; they will be male and female. 6:20 Two of every sort of bird and cattle and of every sort of living thing which goes on the earth will you take with you to keep them from destruction. 6:21 And make a store of every sort of food for yourself and them. 6:22 And all these things Noah did; as God said, so he did.

GENESIS, 7
The flood


7:1     And the Lord said to Noah, Take all your family and go into the ark, for you only in this generation have I seen to be upright. 7:2 Of every clean beast you will take seven males and seven females, and of the beasts which are not clean, two, the male and his female; 7:3 And of the birds of the air, seven males and seven females, so that their seed may still be living on the face of the earth. 7:4 For after seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, for the destruction of every living thing which I have made on the face of the earth. 7:5 And Noah did everything which the Lord said he was to do.

7:6     And Noah was six hundred years old when the waters came flowing over all the earth. 7:7 And Noah, with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives, went into the ark because of the flowing of the waters. 7:8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts which are not clean, and of birds, and of everything which goes on the earth, 7:9 In twos, male and female, they went into the ark with Noah, as God had said. 7:10 And after the seven days, the waters came over all the earth.

7:11     In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep came bursting through, and the windows of heaven were open; 7:12 And rain came down on the earth for forty days and forty nights. 7:13 On the same day Noah, with Shem, Ham, and Japheth, his sons, and his wife and his sons' wives, went into the ark; 7:14 And with them, every sort of beast and cattle, and every sort of thing which goes on the earth, and every sort of bird. 7:15 They went with Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh in which is the breath of life. 7:16 Male and female of all flesh went in, as God had said, and the ark was shut by the Lord.

7:17     And for forty days the waters were over all the earth; and the waters were increased so that the ark was lifted up high over the earth. 7:18 And the waters overcame everything and were increased greatly on the earth, and the ark was resting on the face of the waters. 7:19 And the waters overcame everything on the earth; and all the mountains under heaven were covered. 7:20 The waters went fifteen cubits higher, till all the mountains were covered. 7:21 And destruction came on every living thing moving on the earth, birds and cattle and beasts and everything which went on the earth, and every man. 7:22 Everything on the dry land, in which was the breath of life, came to its end. 7:23 Every living thing on the face of all the earth, man and cattle and things moving on the face of the earth, and birds of the air, came to destruction : only Noah and those who were with him in the ark, were kept from death. 7:24 And the waters were over the earth a hundred and fifty days.

GENESIS, 8
The waters go


8:1     And God kept Noah in mind, and all the living things and the cattle which were with him in the ark : and God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters went down. 8:2 And the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were shut, and the rain from heaven was stopped. 8:3 And the waters went slowly back from the earth, and at the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters were lower. 8:4 And on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 8:5 And still the waters went on falling, till on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen.

8:6     Then, after forty days, through the open window of the ark which he had made, 8:7 Noah sent out a raven, which went this way and that till the waters were gone from the earth. 8:8 And he sent out a dove, to see if the waters had gone from the face of the earth; 8:9 But the dove saw no resting-place for her foot, and came back to the ark, for the waters were still over all the earth ; and he put out his hand, and took her into the ark. 8:10 And after waiting another seven days, he sent the dove out again; 8:11 And the dove came back at evening, and in her mouth was an olive-leaf broken off : so Noah was certain that the waters had gone down on the earth. 8:12 And after seven days more, he sent the dove out again, but she did not come back to him.

8:13     And in the six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month, the waters were dry on the earth : and Noah took the cover off the ark and saw that the face of the earth was dry. 8:14 And on the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was dry. 8:15 And God said to Noah, 8:16 Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives. 8:17 Take out with you every living thing which is with you, birds and cattle and everything which goes on the earth, so that they may have offspring and be fertile and be increased on the earth. 8:18 And Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives; 8:19 And every beast and bird and every living thing of every sort which goes on the earth, went out of the ark.

8:20     And Noah made an altar to the Lord, and from every clean beast and bird he made burned offerings on the altar. 8:21 And when the sweet smell came up to the Lord, he said in his heart, I will not again put a curse on the earth because of man, for the thoughts of man's heart are evil from his earliest days; never again will I send destruction on all living things as I have done. 8:22 While the earth goes on, seed time and the getting in of the grain, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will not come to an end.
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