Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

2 Kings (4 Kings) 7 / Basic English

1. Then Elisha said, Give ear to the word of the Lord: the Lord says, Tomorrow, about this time, a measure of good meal will be offered for the price of a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the market-place of Samaria.
2. Then the captain whose arm was supporting the king said to the man of God, Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, would such a thing be possible? And he said, Your eyes will see it, but you will not have a taste of the food.
3. Now there were four lepers seated at the doorway into the town: and they said to one another, Why are we waiting here for death?
4. If we say, We will go into the town, there is no food in the town, and we will come to our end there; and if we go on waiting here, death will come to us. Come then, let us give ourselves up to the army of Aram: if they let us go on living, then life will be ours; and if they put us to death, then death will be ours.
5. So in the half light they got up to go to the tents of Aram; but when they came to the outer line of tents, there was no one there.
6. For the Lord had made the sound of carriages and horses, and the noise of a great army, come to the ears of the Aramaeans, so that they said to one another, Truly, the king of Israel has got the kings of the Hittites and of the Egyptians for a price to make an attack on us.
7. So they got up and went in flight, in the half light, without their tents or their horses or their asses or any of their goods; they went in flight, fearing for their lives.
8. And when those lepers came to the outer line of tents, they went into one tent, and had food and drink, and took from it silver and gold and clothing, which they put in a secret place; then they came back and went into another tent from which they took more goods, which they put away in a secret place.
9. Then they said to one another, We are not doing right. Today is a day of good news, and we say nothing: if we go on waiting here till the morning, punishment will come to us. So let us go and give the news to those of the king's house.
10. So they came in, and, crying out to the door-keepers of the town, they gave them the news, saying, We came to the tents of the Aramaeans, and there was no one there and no voice of man, only the horses and the asses in their places, and the tents as they were.
11. Then the door-keepers, crying out, gave the news to those inside the king's house.
12. Then the king got up in the night and said to his servants, This is my idea of what the Aramaeans have done to us. They have knowledge that we are without food; and so they have gone out of their tents, and are waiting secretly in the open country, saying, When they come out of the town, we will take them living and get into the town.
13. And one of his servants said in answer, Send men and let them take five of the horses which we still have in the town; if they keep their lives they will be the same as those of Israel who are still living here; if they come to their death they will be the same as all those of Israel who have gone to destruction: let us send and see.
14. So they took two horsemen; and the king sent them after the army of the Aramaeans, saying, Go and see.
15. And they went after them as far as Jordan; and all the road was covered with clothing and vessels dropped by the Aramaeans in their flight. So those who were sent went back and gave the news to the king.
16. Then the people went out and took the goods from the tents of the Aramaeans. So a measure of good meal was to be had for the price of a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, as the Lord had said.
17. And the king gave authority to that captain, on whose arm he was supported, to have control over the doorway into the town; but he was crushed to death there under the feet of the people, as the man of God had said when the king went down to him.
18. So the words of the man of God came true, which he said to the king: Two measures of barley will be offered for the price of a shekel and a measure of good meal for a shekel, tomorrow about this time in the market-place of Samaria.
19. And that captain said to the man of God, Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, would such a thing be possible? And he said to him, Your eyes will see it, but you will not have a taste of the food.
20. And such was his fate; for he was crushed to death under the feet of the people, in the doorway into the town.

2 Kings (4 Kings) 8 / Basic English

1. Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had given back to life, Go now, with all the people of your house, and get a living-place for yourselves wherever you are able; for by the word of the Lord, there will be great need of food in the land; and this will go on for seven years.
2. So the woman got up and did as the man of God said; and she and the people of her house were living in the land of the Philistines for seven years.
3. And when the seven years were ended, the woman came back from the land of the Philistines and went to the king with a request for her house and her land.
4. Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Now, give me an account of all the great things Elisha has done.
5. And while he was giving the king the story of how Elisha had given life to the dead, the woman whose son had come back to life came to the king with a request for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, My lord king, this is the woman and this is her son, whose life Elisha gave back to him.
6. And in answer to the king's questions, the woman gave him all the story. So the king gave orders to one of his unsexed servants, saying, Give her back all her property, and all the produce of her fields from the day when she went away from the land up till now.
7. And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad, king of Aram, was ill; and they said to him, The man of God has come.
8. Then the king said to Hazael, Take an offering with you, and go to see the man of God and get directions from the Lord by him, saying, Am I going to get better from my disease?
9. So Hazael went to see him, taking with him forty camels with offerings on their backs of every sort of good thing from Damascus; and when he came before him, he said, Your son Ben-hadad, king of Aram, has sent me to you, saying, Will I get better from this disease?
10. And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, You will certainly get better; but the Lord has made it clear to me that only death is before him.
11. And he kept his eyes fixed on him till he was shamed, and the man of God was overcome with weeping.
12. And Hazael said, Why is my lord weeping? Then he said in answer, Because I see the evil which you will do to the children of Israel: burning down their strong towns, putting their young men to death with the sword, smashing their little ones against the stones, and cutting open the women who are with child.
13. And Hazael said, How is it possible that your servant, who is only a dog, will do this great thing? And Elisha said, The Lord has made it clear to me that you will be king over Aram.
14. Then he went away from Elisha and came in to his master, who said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And his answer was, He said that you would certainly get well.
15. Now on the day after, Hazael took the bed-cover, and making it wet with water, put it over Ben-hadad's face, causing his death: and Hazael became king in his place.
16. In the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, became king.
17. He was thirty-two years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for eight years.
18. He went in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the family of Ahab did: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
19. But it was not the Lord's purpose to send destruction on Judah, because of David his servant, to whom he had given his word that he would have a light for ever.
20. In his time, Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah, and took a king for themselves.
21. Then Joram went over to Zair, with all his war-carriages; ... made an attack by night on the Edomites, whose forces were all round him, ... the captains of the war-carriages; and the people went in flight to their tents.
22. So Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah to this day. And at the same time, Libnah made itself free.
23. Now the rest of the acts of Joram, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?
24. And Joram went to rest with his fathers and was put into the earth with his fathers in the town of David: and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.
25. In the twelfth year that Joram, the son of Ahab, was king of Israel, Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, became king;
26. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for one year. His mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri, king of Israel.
27. He went in the ways of the family of Ahab, and did evil in the eyes of the Lord as the family of Ahab did, for he was a son-in-law of the family of Ahab.
28. He went with Joram, the son of Ahab, to make war on Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead: and Joram was wounded by the Aramaeans.
29. So King Joram went back to Jezreel to get well from the wounds which the bowmen had given him at Ramah, when he was fighting against Hazael, king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel, because he was ill.

Proverbs 1 / Basic English

1. The wise sayings of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.
2. To have knowledge of wise teaching; to be clear about the words of reason:
3. To be trained in the ways of wisdom, in righteousness and judging truly and straight behaviour:
4. To make the simple-minded sharp, and to give the young man knowledge, and serious purpose:
5. (The wise man, hearing, will get greater learning, and the acts of the man of good sense will be wisely guided:)
6. To get the sense of wise sayings and secrets, and of the words of the wise and their dark sayings.
7. The fear of the Lord is the start of knowledge: but the foolish have no use for wisdom and teaching.
8. My son, give ear to the training of your father, and do not give up the teaching of your mother:
9. For they will be a crown of grace for your head, and chain-ornaments about your neck.
10. My son, if sinners would take you out of the right way, do not go with them.
11. If they say, Come with us; let us make designs against the good, waiting secretly for the upright, without cause;
12. Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death;
13. Goods of great price will be ours, our houses will be full of wealth;
14. Take your chance with us, and we will all have one money-bag:
15. My son, do not go with them; keep your feet from their ways:
16. For their feet are running after evil, and they are quick to take a man's life.
17. Truly, to no purpose is the net stretched out before the eyes of the bird:
18. And they are secretly waiting for their blood and making ready destruction for themselves.
19. Such is the fate of everyone who goes in search of profit; it takes away the life of its owners.
20. Wisdom is crying out in the street; her voice is loud in the open places;
21. Her words are sounding in the meeting-places, and in the doorways of the town:
22. How long, you simple ones, will foolish things be dear to you? and pride a delight to the haters of authority? how long will the foolish go on hating knowledge?
23. Be turned again by my sharp words: see, I will send the flow of my spirit on you, and make my words clear to you.
24. Because your ears were shut to my voice; no one gave attention to my out-stretched hand;
25. You were not controlled by my guiding, and would have nothing to do with my sharp words:
26. So in the day of your trouble I will be laughing; I will make sport of your fear;
27. When your fear comes on you like a storm, and your trouble like a rushing wind; when pain and sorrow come on you.
28. Then I will give no answer to their cries; searching for me early, they will not see me:
29. For they were haters of knowledge, and did not give their hearts to the fear of the Lord:
30. They had no desire for my teaching, and my words of protest were as nothing to them.
31. So the fruit of their way will be their food, and with the designs of their hearts they will be made full.
32. For the turning back of the simple from teaching will be the cause of their death, and the peace of the foolish will be their destruction.
33. But whoever gives ear to me will take his rest safely, living in peace without fear of evil.