Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in plain modern English. Faithful to the meaning of every verse, effortless to understand, and designed like a book worth owning.
So clear a five-year-old can follow it. So faithful your pastor could preach from it.
Nobody says it out loud. You open it with good intentions, stall a few pages in, and quietly decide you must not be a Bible person. The numbers say otherwise.
of US households own a Bible. The average home has three.
Lifeway Research / American Bible Societyof Protestant churchgoers say the Bible is challenging to make sense of on their own.
Lifeway Researchof the 3 million+ readers who start a one-year plan every January 1 are gone by May. Participation drops 30% in the first week alone.
Bible Gateway data via Christianity Today, 2025That is not a crowd of people who lack discipline. The Bible asks for roughly an 8th-grade reading level, and the copies sitting on most shelves carry sentence structures from centuries ago. You never failed the Bible. The Bibles you were handed were not written for you. His word was spoken to fishermen and farmers. It was meant to be understood.
On the left, the King James Version of 1611, public domain and rightly loved. On the right, the same verses in The Plain Word. Nothing added, nothing removed, nothing softened. Just English you don't have to translate in your head.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”
“God blesses those who know they need him. The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them. God blesses those who are grieving. They will be comforted.”
“And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”
“So he got up and headed home. But while he was still a long way down the road, his father saw him. And his father's heart broke with love, and he ran. He threw his arms around his son and kissed him.”
“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.”
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill can't be hidden. And nobody lights a lamp and then hides it under a basket. You put it up on a stand. Then it shines for everyone in the house.”
Every chapter of all four Gospels reads like the right column.
Get the book for $27Sentences average 8 to 12 words. The vocabulary is the English you speak every day. A 2nd grader can read it alone, and it was written for adults: no cartoon retellings, nothing skipped, zero talking down.
The famous lines stay recognizable. They just stop needing a study guide.
This is not a loose paraphrase. Every verse of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is here, rendered from the World English Bible, a public domain translation, with nothing added, nothing removed, nothing softened.
The hard sayings stay hard. When Jesus says something uncomfortable, you will read something uncomfortable. Clarity changes the words, never the meaning.
No inline verse numbers breaking every thought. Dialogue set like a novel. A one-line plain-English summary opens every chapter, and a short “What we learn here” takeaway closes it, so nothing washes over you.
Warm paper tones, calm typography, generous margins. The page itself tells you this is worth your evening.
Bible apps run $70 to $100 a year, wrapped in notifications and clutter. This is one clean book you own: a designed PDF and a reflowable EPUB, downloaded straight to your device, with no account to create and nothing that renews.
Read it on your phone on the train, on a tablet in bed, or printed out on your desk.
Every chapter passed a read-aloud test before it went in the book. You can tell the Lost Son at bedtime without stopping to explain a single word, and the “What we learn here” takeaways double as built-in family conversations.
One adult book, two readers: the kid listening and the parent who finally follows every line too.
This is the Lost Son from Luke 15, exactly as it looks and reads inside The Plain Word.
Three stories about lost things: a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son.
Then Jesus told them this story:
“A father had two sons. One day the younger son said, ‘Dad, give me my share of the inheritance now.’ So the father divided everything he owned between his two boys.
“A few days later, the younger son packed up everything and moved far away. And there he blew it all, every last cent, on wild living. Right when his money ran out, a famine hit that land. For the first time in his life, he was truly desperate. The only work he could find was feeding pigs. He got so hungry he stared at the pig slop and wished he could eat it. Nobody gave him anything.
“Then one day, he finally came to his senses. ‘Back home, even my father's workers have more food than they can eat, and here I am, starving to death. I'll go home. I'll tell my father: Dad, I've sinned against God and against you. I don't deserve to be called your son anymore. Just let me work for you.’
“So he got up and headed home.
“But while he was still a long way down the road, his father saw him. And his father's heart broke with love, and he ran. He threw his arms around his son and kissed him.
“The son started his speech: ‘Dad, I've sinned against God and against you. I don't deserve to be called your son…’
“But the father was already shouting to his servants: ‘Quick! Bring the best robe in the house and put it on him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And bring the prize calf and cook it. We're having a feast! Because this son of mine was dead, and he's alive again. He was lost, and now he's found.’
“And the celebration began.
No matter how far you run, God the Father is watching the road, ready to run to you. Heaven throws a party every time one lost person comes home.
From The Plain Word: The Gospels · Luke 15
We'll send a full chapter to your inbox, typeset exactly like the page above. It reads in about four minutes.
Got it. Your chapter is on its way. Check your inbox in the next few minutes.
I'm Cameron Cline. I'm a filmmaker, born in 2003, and I was 21 before I understood a single chapter of the Bible.
It was never for lack of trying. I owned one. I opened it plenty of times. I stalled a few pages in every time, feeling like scripture was written for smarter people, and half my friends have told me the same story in quieter words.
So I made the version I needed. I took the World English Bible, a public domain translation, and rendered it sentence by sentence into the plainest honest English I could write, holding onto the meaning of every verse. Then I designed it like the books I stay up too late reading.
This is the copy I wish someone had handed me at 18. I hope it reads that way to you.
Cameron Founder, The Plain Word
Yes. Every chapter of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is here, complete, with the meaning of every verse kept intact. Nothing is skipped, summarized away, or watered down. The hard sayings stay hard.
What changes is the English: short sentences and everyday words instead of centuries-old phrasing.
The Plain Word is an original plain-English rendering based on the World English Bible, a public domain translation. It is neither a new translation from the original languages nor a loose paraphrase. We start from the WEB text and render it verse by verse into plain modern English, checking every line against the source's meaning.
It's an adult book. The design, the voice, and the content are written for grown readers. The readability bar is simply set high: a 2nd grader can read it alone, and a five-year-old can follow it read aloud.
That's exactly why parents love reading it at bedtime. One book works for the whole family without ever feeling like a children's product.
Two files, delivered instantly after checkout: a designed PDF that preserves the full book layout, and a reflowable EPUB for phones, tablets, and e-readers. There is no app to install and no account to create. The files are yours.
Email us within 30 days of purchase and we'll refund your $27 in full, no questions asked. You can't return a file, and we wouldn't ask you to.
The full New Testament is in the works, with more to follow. Buyers hear about every release first, by email.
The four Gospels in plain English, faithful to the source at every verse. Tonight you can read a whole chapter and follow every word of it.
Read it for 30 days. If it doesn't read easier than any Bible you've opened, reply to your receipt email and we'll return your $27 in full. You keep the files; you can't return a book like this, and we wouldn't want you to.