Bible in Basic English
Luke, 13
13:1 Now some people who were there at that time, gave him an account of how the blood of some Galilaeans had been mixed by Pilate with their offerings.
13:2 And he, in answer, said to them, Are you of the opinion that these Galilaeans were worse than all other Galilaeans, because these things were done to them ?
13:3 I say to you, It is not so : but if your hearts are not changed, you will all come to the same end.
13:4 Or those eighteen men who were crushed by the fall of the tower of Siloam, were they worse than all the other men living in Jerusalem ?
13:5 I say to you, It is not so : but if your hearts are not changed, you will all come to an end in the same way.
13:6 And he made up this story for them : A certain man had a fig-tree in his garden, and he came to get fruit from it, and there was no fruit.
13:7 And he said to the gardener, See, for three years I have been looking for fruit from this tree, and I have not had any : let it be cut down; why is it taking up space ?
13:8 And he said, Lord, let it be for this year, and I will have the earth turned up round it, and put animal waste on it, to make it fertile :
13:9 And if, after that, it has fruit, it is well; if not, let it be cut down.
13:10 And he was teaching in one of the Synagogues on the Sabbath.
13:11 And there was a woman who had had a disease for eighteen years; she was bent, and was not able to make herself straight.
13:12 And when Jesus saw her, he said to her, Woman, you are made free from your disease.
13:13 And he put his hands on her, and she was made straight, and gave praise to God.
13:14 And the ruler of the Synagogue was angry because Jesus had made her well on the Sabbath, and he said to the people, There are six days in which men may do work : so come on those days to be made well, and not on the Sabbath.
13:15 But the Lord gave him an answer and said, O you false men ! do you not, every one of you, on the Sabbath, let loose his ox and his ass and take it to the water ?
13:16 And is it not right for this daughter of Abraham, who has been in the power of Satan for eighteen years, to be made free on the Sabbath ?
13:17 And when he said these things, those who were against him were shamed, and all the people were full of joy because of the great things which were done by him.
13:18 Then he said, What is the kingdom of God like ? what comparison may I make of it ?
13:19 It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and put in his garden, and it became a tree, and the birds of heaven made their resting-places in its branches.
13:20 And again he said, What is the kingdom of God like ?
13:21 It is like leaven, which a woman put into three measures of meal, and it was all leavened.
13:22 And he went on his way, through towns and country places, teaching and journeying to Jerusalem.
13:23 And someone said to him, Lord, will only a small number have salvation ? And he said to them,
13:24 Do your best to go in by the narrow door, for I say to you, A number will make the attempt to go in, but will not be able to do so.
13:25 When the master of the house has got up, and the door has been shut, and you, still outside, give blows on the door, saying, Lord, let us in; he will make answer and say, I have no knowledge of where you come from.
13:26 Then you will say, We have taken food and drink with you, and you were teaching in our streets.
13:27 But he will say, Truly, I have no knowledge of you or where you come from; go away from me, you workers of evil.
13:28 There will be weeping and cries of sorrow when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are shut outside.
13:29 And they will come from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, and take their places in the kingdom of God.
13:30 And the last will be first, and the first will be last.
13:31 At that time, certain Pharisees came to him and said, Go away from this place, because Herod's purpose is to put you to death.
13:32 And he said, Go and say to that fox, I send out evil spirits and do works of mercy today and tomorrow, and on the third day my work will be complete.
13:33 But I have to go on my way today and tomorrow and the third day, for it is not right for a prophet to come to his death outside Jerusalem.
13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who were sent to her ! again and again would I have taken your children to myself, as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, but you would not !
13:35 Now see, your house is waste, and I say to you, You will not see me again till you say, A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord.
Luke, 14
14:1 And it came about that when he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees on the Sabbath, to have a meal, they were watching him.
14:2 And a certain man was there who had a disease.
14:3 And Jesus, answering, said to the scribes and Pharisees, Is it right to make people well on the Sabbath or not ?
14:4 But they said nothing. And he made him well and sent him away.
14:5 And he said to them, Which of you, whose ox or ass has got into a water-hole, will not straight away get him out on the Sabbath ?
14:6 And they had no answer to that question.
14:7 And he gave teaching in the form of a story to the guests who came to the feast, when he saw how they took the best seats; saying to them,
14:8 When you get a request to come to a feast, do not take the best seat, for a more important man than you may be coming,
14:9 And then the giver of the feast will come to you and say, Give your place to this man; and you, with shame, will have to take the lowest seat.
14:10 But when you come, go and take the lowest seat, so that when the giver of the feast comes, he may say to you, Friend, come up higher; and then you will have honour in the eyes of all the others who are there.
14:11 For every man who gives himself a high place will be put down, but he who takes a low place will be lifted up.
14:12 And he said to the master of the house, When you give a feast, do not send for your friends and your brothers and your family or your neighbours who have wealth, for they may give a feast for you, and so you will get a reward.
14:13 But when you give a feast, send for the poor and the blind and those who are broken in body :
14:14 And you will have a blessing, because they will not be able to give you any payment, and you will get your reward when the upright come back from the dead.
14:15 And, hearing these words, one of those who were at table with him said to him, Happy is the man who will be a guest in the kingdom of God.
14:16 And he said to them, A certain man gave a great feast, and sent word of it to a number of people.
14:17 And when the time had come, he sent his servants to say to them, Come, for all things are now ready.
14:18 And they all gave reasons why they were not able to come. The first said to him, I have got a new field, and it is necessary for me to go and see it : I am full of regret that I am unable to come.
14:19 And another said, I have got some cattle, and I am going to make a test of them : I am full of regret that I am unable to come.
14:20 And another said, I have been married, and so I am not able to come.
14:21 And the servant came back and gave his master an account of these things. Then the master of the house was angry and said to the servant, Go out quickly into the streets of the town and get the poor, the blind, and those who are broken in body.
14:22 And the servant said, Lord, your orders have been done, and still there is room.
14:23 And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the roads and the fields, and make them come in, so that my house may be full.
14:24 For I say to you that not one of those who were requested to come will have a taste of my feast.
14:25 Now a great number of people went with him.
14:26 And turning round, he said to them, If any man comes to me, and has not hate for his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even for his life, he may not be my disciple.
14:27 Whoever does not take up his cross and come after me may not be my disciple.
14:28 For which of you, desiring to put up a tower, does not first give much thought to the price, if he will have enough to make it complete ?
14:29 For fear that if he makes a start and is not able to go on with it to the end, all who see it will be laughing at him,
14:30 And saying, This man made a start at building and is not able to make it complete.
14:31 Or what king, going to war with another king, will not first take thought if he will be strong enough, with ten thousand men, to keep off him who comes against him with twenty thousand ?
14:32 Or while the other is still a great distance away, he sends representatives requesting conditions of peace.
14:33 And so whoever is not ready to give up all he has may not be my disciple.
14:34 For salt is good, but if the taste goes from it, of what use is it ?
14:35 It is no good for the land or for the place of waste; no one has a use for it. He who has ears, let him give ear.
Luke, 15
15:1 Now all the tax-farmers and sinners came near to give ear to him.
15:2 And the Pharisees and scribes were angry, saying, This man gives approval to sinners, and takes food with them.
15:3 And he made a story for them, saying,
15:4 What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if one of them gets loose and goes away, will not let the ninety-nine be in the waste land by themselves, and go after the wandering one, till he sees where it is ?
15:5 And when he has got it again, he takes it in his arms with joy.
15:6 And when he gets back to his house, he sends for his neighbours and friends, saying to them, Be glad with me, for I have got back my sheep which had gone away.
15:7 I say to you that even so there will be more joy in heaven when one sinner is turned away from his wrongdoing, than for ninety-nine good men, who have no need of a change of heart.
15:8 Or what woman, having ten bits of silver, if one bit has gone from her hands, will not get a light, and go through her house, searching with care till she sees it ?
15:9 And when she has it again, she gets her friends and neighbours together, saying, Be glad with me, for I have got back the bit of silver which had gone from me.
15:10 Even so, I say to you, There is joy among the angels of God, when one sinner is turned away from his wrongdoing.
15:11 And he said, A certain man had two sons :
15:12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me that part of your property which will be mine. And he made division of his goods between them.
15:13 And not long after, the younger son got together everything which was his and took a journey into a far-away country, and there all his money went in foolish living.
15:14 And when everything was gone, there was no food to be had in that country, and he was in need.
15:15 And he went and put himself into the hands of one of the people of that country, and he sent him into his fields to give the pigs their food.
15:16 And so great was his need that he would have been glad to take the pigs' food, and no one gave him anything.
15:17 But when he came to his senses, he said, What numbers of my father's servants have bread enough, and more, while I am near to death here through need of food !
15:18 I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes :
15:19 I am no longer good enough to be named your son : make me like one of your servants.
15:20 And he got up and went to his father. But while he was still far away, his father saw him and was moved with pity for him and went quickly and took him in his arms and gave him a kiss.
15:21 And his son said to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes : I am no longer good enough to be named your son.
15:22 But the father said to his servants, Get out the first robe quickly, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet :
15:23 And get the fat young ox and put it to death, and let us have a feast, and be glad.
15:24 For this, my son, who was dead, is living again; he had gone away from me, and has come back. And they were full of joy.
15:25 Now the older son was in the field : and when he came near the house, the sounds of music and dancing came to his ears.
15:26 And he sent for one of the servants, questioning him about what it might be.
15:27 And he said to him, Your brother has come; and your father has had the young ox put to death because he has come back safely.
15:28 But he was angry and would not go in; and his father came out and made a request to him to come in.
15:29 But he made answer and said to his father, See, all these years I have been your servant, doing your orders in everything : and you never gave me even a young goat so that I might have a feast with my friends :
15:30 But when this your son came, who has been wasting your property with bad women, you put to death the fat young ox for him.
15:31 And he said to him, Son, you are with me at all times, and all I have is yours.
15:32 But it was right to be glad and to have a feast; for this your brother, who was dead, is living again; he had gone away and has come back.
Luke, 16
16:1 And another time he said to the disciples, There was a certain man of great wealth who had a servant; and it was said to him that this servant was wasting his goods.
16:2 And he sent for him and said, What is this which is said about you ? give me an account of all you have done, for you will no longer be the manager of my property.
16:3 And the servant said to himself, What am I to do now that my lord takes away my position ? I have not enough strength for working in the fields, and I would be shamed if I made requests for money from people in the streets.
16:4 I have come to a decision what to do, so that when I am put out of my position they will take me into their houses.
16:5 And sending for every one who was in debt to his lord he said to the first, What is the amount of your debt to my lord ?
16:6 And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said, Take your account straight away and put down fifty.
16:7 Then he said to another, What is the amount of your debt ? And he said, A hundred measures of grain. And he said to him, Take your account and put down eighty.
16:8 And his lord was pleased with the false servant, because he had been wise; for the sons of this world are wiser in relation to their generation than the sons of light.
16:9 And I say to you, Make friends for yourselves through the wealth of this life, so that when it comes to an end, you may be taken into the eternal resting-places.
16:10 He who is true in a little, is true in much; he who is false in small things, is false in great.
16:11 If, then, you have not been true in your use of the wealth of this life, who will give into your care the true wealth ?
16:12 And if you have not been true in your care of the property of other people, who will give you that which is yours ?
16:13 No man may be a servant to two masters : for he will have hate for the one and love for the other; or he will keep to the one and have no respect for the other. You may not be servants of God and of wealth.
16:14 And the Pharisees, who had a great love of money, hearing these things, were making sport of him.
16:15 And he said, You take care to seem right in the eyes of men, but God sees your hearts : and those things which are important in the opinion of men, are evil in the eyes of God.
16:16 The law and the prophets were till John : but then came the preaching of the kingdom of God, and everyone makes his way into it by force.
16:17 But heaven and earth will come to an end before the smallest letter of the law may be dropped out.
16:18 Everyone who puts away his wife and takes another, is a false husband : and he who is married to a woman whose husband has put her away, is no true husband to her.
16:19 Now there was a certain man of great wealth, who was dressed in fair clothing of purple and delicate linen, and was shining and glad every day.
16:20 And a certain poor man, named Lazarus, was stretched out at his door, full of wounds,
16:21 Desiring the broken bits of food which came from the table of the man of wealth; and even the dogs came and put their tongues on his wounds.
16:22 And in time the poor man came to his end, and angels took him to Abraham's breast. And the man of wealth came to his end, and was put in the earth.
16:23 And in hell, being in great pain, lifting up his eyes he saw Abraham, far away, and Lazarus on his breast.
16:24 And he gave a cry and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may put the end of his finger in water and put it on my tongue, for I am cruelly burning in this flame.
16:25 But Abraham said, Keep in mind, my son, that when you were living, you had your good things, while Lazarus had evil things : but now, he is comforted and you are in pain.
16:26 And in addition, there is a deep division fixed between us and you, so that those who might go from here to you are not able to do so, and no one may come from you to us.
16:27 And he said, Father, it is my request that you will send him to my father's house;
16:28 For I have five brothers; and let him give them an account of these things, so that they may not come to this place of pain.
16:29 But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them give ear to what they say.
16:30 And he said, No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, their hearts would be changed.
16:31 And he said to him, If they will not give attention to Moses and the prophets, they will not be moved even if someone comes back from the dead.
< Previous
< BBE >
Next >
Provided and Thanks to ZbEnglish.net