Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

2 Kings (4 Kings) 24 / Basic English

1. In his days, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up and Jehoiakim was his servant for three years; then he took up arms against him.
2. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldaeans and of the Edomites and of the Moabites and of the children of Ammon; sending them against Judah for its destruction, as he had said by his servants the prophets.
3. Only by the word of the Lord did this fate come on Judah, to take them away from before his face; because of the sins of Manasseh and all the evil he did;
4. And because of the death of those who had done no wrong, for he made Jerusalem full of the blood of the upright; and the Lord had no forgiveness for it.
5. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?
6. So Jehoiakim went to rest with his fathers; and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place.
7. And the king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all his country, from the stream of Egypt to the river Euphrates.
8. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, he was ruling in Jerusalem for three months, and his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
9. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father had done.
10. At that time the armies of Nebuchadnezzar came up to Jerusalem and the town was shut in on every side.
11. And Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came there, while his servants were shutting in the town;
12. Then Jehoiachin, king of Judah, went out to the king of Babylon, with his mother and his servants and his chiefs and his unsexed servants; and in the eighth year of his rule the king of Babylon took him.
13. And he took away all the stored wealth of the Lord's house, and the goods from the king's store-house, cutting up all the gold vessels which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the house of the Lord, as the Lord had said.
14. And he took away all the people of Jerusalem and all the chiefs and all the men of war, ten thousand prisoners; and all the expert workmen and the metal-workers; only the poorest sort of the people of the land were not taken away.
15. He took Jehoiachin a prisoner to Babylon, with his mother and his wives and his unsexed servants and the great men of the land; he took them all as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon.
16. And all the men of war, seven thousand of them, and a thousand expert workmen and metal-workers, all of them strong and able to take up arms, the king of Babylon took away as prisoners into Babylon.
17. And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, his father's brother, king in place of Jehoiachin, changing his name to Zedekiah.
18. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for eleven years; his mother's name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
19. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as Jehoiakim had done.
20. And because of the wrath of the Lord, this came about in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had sent them all away from before him: and Zedekiah took up arms against the king of Babylon.

2 Kings (4 Kings) 25 / Basic English

1. Now in the ninth year of his rule, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came against Jerusalem with all his army and took up his position before it, building earthworks all round the town.
2. And the town was shut in by their forces till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3. Now on the ninth day of the fourth month, the store of food in the town was almost gone, so that there was no food for the people of the land.
4. So an opening was made in the wall of the town, and all the men of war went in flight by night through the doorway between the two walls which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldaeans were stationed round the town:) and the king went by the way of the Arabah.
5. But the Chaldaean army went after the king, and overtook him in the lowlands of Jericho, and all his army went in flight from him in every direction.
6. And they made the king a prisoner and took him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah to be judged.
7. And they put the sons of Zedekiah to death before his eyes, and then they put out his eyes, and chaining him with iron bands, took him to Babylon.
8. Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem;
9. And he had the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned with fire;
10. And the walls round Jerusalem were broken down by the Chaldaean army which was with the captain.
11. And the rest of the people who were still in the town, and all those who had given themselves up to the king of Babylon, and all the rest of the workmen, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, took away as prisoners;
12. But he let the poorest of the land go on living there, to take care of the vines and the fields.
13. And the brass pillars in the house of the Lord, and the wheeled bases, and the great brass water-vessel in the house of the Lord, were broken up by the Chaldaeans, who took the brass to Babylon.
14. And the pots and the spades and the scissors for the lights and the spoons, and all the brass vessels used in the Lord's house, they took away.
15. And the fire-trays and the basins; the gold of the gold vessels and the silver of the silver vessels, were all taken away by the captain of the armed men.
16. The two pillars, the great water-vessel and the wheeled bases, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
17. One of the pillars was eighteen cubits high, with a crown of brass on it; the crown was three cubits high, circled with a network and apples all of brass; and the second pillar had the same.
18. And the captain of the armed men took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three door-keepers;
19. And from the town he took the unsexed servant who was over the men of war, and five of the king's near friends who were in the town, and the scribe of the captain of the army, who was responsible for getting the people of the land together in military order, and sixty men of the people of the land who were in the town.
20. These Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, took with him to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
21. And the king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken away prisoner from his land.
22. As for the people who were still living in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, did not take away, he made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler over them.
23. Now the captains of the armed forces, hearing that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah ruler, came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah; Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah, the son of the Maacathite, came with all their men.
24. Then Gedaliah gave his oath to them and their men, saying, Have no fear because of the servants of the Chaldaeans; go on living in the land under the rule of the king of Babylon, and all will be well.
25. But in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the king's seed, came with ten men and made an attack on Gedaliah, causing his death and the death of the Jews and the Chaldaeans who were with him at Mizpah.
26. Then all the people, small and great, and the captains of the forces, got up and went away to Egypt, for fear of the Chaldaeans.
27. And in the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin, king of Judah, had been taken prisoner, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, in the first year of his rule, took Jehoiachin, king of Judah, out of prison;
28. And said kind words to him, and put his seat higher than the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.
29. And his prison clothing was changed, and he was a guest at the king's table every day for the rest of his life.
30. And for his food, the king gave him a regular amount every day for the rest of his life.

Proverbs 10 / Basic English

1. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
2. Wealth which comes from sin is of no profit, but righteousness gives salvation from death.
3. The Lord will not let the upright be in need of food, but he puts far from him the desire of the evil-doers.
4. He who is slow in his work becomes poor, but the hand of the ready worker gets in wealth.
5. He who in summer gets together his store is a son who does wisely; but he who takes his rest when the grain is being cut is a son causing shame.
6. Blessings are on the head of the upright, but the face of sinners will be covered with sorrow.
7. The memory of the upright is a blessing, but the name of the evil-doer will be turned to dust.
8. The wise-hearted man will let himself be ruled, but the man whose talk is foolish will have a fall.
9. He whose ways are upright will go safely, but he whose ways are twisted will be made low.
10. He who makes signs with his eyes is a cause of trouble, but he who makes a man see his errors is a cause of peace.
11. The mouth of the upright man is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the evil-doer is a bitter cup.
12. Hate is a cause of violent acts, but all errors are covered up by love.
13. In the lips of him who has knowledge wisdom is seen; but a rod is ready for the back of him who is without sense.
14. Knowledge is stored up by the wise, but the mouth of the foolish man is a destruction which is near.
15. The property of the man of wealth is his strong town: the poor man's need is his destruction.
16. The work of the upright gives life: the increase of the evil-doer is a cause of sin.
17. He who takes note of teaching is a way of life, but he who gives up training is a cause of error.
18. Hate is covered up by the lips of the upright man, but he who lets out evil about another is foolish.
19. Where there is much talk there will be no end to sin, but he who keeps his mouth shut does wisely.
20. The tongue of the upright man is like tested silver: the heart of the evil-doer is of little value.
21. The lips of the upright man give food to men, but the foolish come to death for need of sense.
22. The blessing of the Lord gives wealth: hard work makes it no greater.
23. It is sport to the foolish man to do evil, but the man of good sense takes delight in wisdom.
24. The thing feared by the evil-doer will come to him, but the upright man will get his desire.
25. When the storm-wind is past, the sinner is seen no longer, but the upright man is safe for ever.
26. Like acid drink to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the hater of work to those who send him.
27. The fear of the Lord gives long life, but the years of the evil-doer will be cut short.
28. The hope of the upright man will give joy, but the waiting of the evil-doer will have its end in sorrow.
29. The way of the Lord is a strong tower for the upright man, but destruction to the workers of evil.
30. The upright man will never be moved, but evil-doers will not have a safe resting-place in the land.
31. The mouth of the upright man is budding with wisdom, but the twisted tongue will be cut off.
32. The lips of the upright man have knowledge of what is pleasing, but twisted are the mouths of evil-doers.