Bible Words: GNT – CEV – Combined

FULL PQS – Mini PQs

Even though the Contemporary English Version (CEV) was intentionally designed for easier reading (≈ grade 4–5), a core set of words still pose significant barriers. For low-literacy readers, these words are both hard to decode (multi-syllable, unfamiliar patterns) and hard to understand (culturally/religiously specific). Many of these are names/places (Abraham, Herod, Nazareth, Bethlehem) — which don’t appear in everyday speech. Others are religious abstractions (resurrection, sacrifice, covenant, glory) that are rarely used outside Scripture. Words like Lord, sin, disciple, faith, and kingdom occur hundreds of times — meaning a struggling reader hits them constantly.

50 most difficult words (alphabetical order):

Abraham
angel
apostle
baptize / baptism
Bethlehem
Caesar
centurion
Christ
crucify / crucifixion
demon
disciple
eternal
faith
Galilee
Gentile
glory
Herod
Holy Spirit
hypocrite
idol
Israel
Jerusalem
John the Baptist
Judea
kingdom
leprosy
Lord
manna
Messiah
miracle
Moses
Nazareth
parable
Passover
Pharisee
Pontius Pilate
prophet
resurrection
Rome / Roman
Sabbath
sacrifice
Samaritan
Satan
Scripture
sin
synagogue
temple
testimony
tomb
zealot

Ranked by approximate frequency of occurrence in the NT (CEV) (highest → lowest)

Lord
Jesus Christ (“Christ” as title)
sin
disciple
faith
kingdom
Israel
temple
prophet
law (Torah context — often simplified but still abstract)
Moses
Abraham
Jerusalem
Holy Spirit
eternal
glory
gospel (in CEV simplified but still key)
resurrection
baptism
Satan
miracle
testimony
sacrifice
Gentile
Pharisee
Herod
Galilee
Nazareth
John the Baptist
Samaritan
Passover
Sabbath
demon
Messiah
Scripture
hypocrite
Pontius Pilate
idol
centurion
Rome / Roman
Bethlehem
Judea
zealot
leprosy
manna
parable
tomb
blasphemy (rare but still appears)
crucifixion / crucify
testimony (low-frequency repeats compared to above)