Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

2 Chronicles 19 / Basic English

1. And Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went back to his house in Jerusalem in peace.
2. And Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went to King Jehoshaphat and said to him, Is it right for you to go to the help of evil-doers, loving the haters of the Lord? because of this, the wrath of the Lord has come on you.
3. But still there is some good in you, for you have put away the wood pillars out of the land, and have given your heart to the worship of God.
4. And Jehoshaphat was living in Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people, from Beer-sheba to the hill-country of Ephraim, guiding them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers.
5. And he put judges through all the land, in every walled town of Judah,
6. And said to the judges, Take care what you do, for you are judging not for man but for the Lord, and he is with you in the decisions you give.
7. So now let the fear of the Lord be in you; do your work with care; for in the Lord our God there is no evil, or respect for high position, or taking of payment to do wrong.
8. Then in Jerusalem he gave authority to certain of the Levites and the priests and the heads of families of Israel to give decisions for the Lord, and in the causes of those living in Jerusalem.
9. And he gave them their orders, saying, You are to do your work in the fear of the Lord, in good faith and with a true heart.
10. And if any cause comes before you from your brothers living in their towns, where the death punishment is in question, or where there are questions of law or order, or rules or decisions, make them take care that they are not in the wrong before the Lord, so that wrath may not come on you and on your brothers; do this and you yourselves will not be in the wrong.
11. And now, Amariah, the chief priest, is over you in all questions to do with the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the head of the family of Judah, in everything to do with the king's business; and the Levites will be overseers for you. Be strong to do the work; and may the Lord be with the upright.

2 Chronicles 20 / Basic English

1. Now after this, the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Meunim, made war against Jehoshaphat.
2. And they came to Jehoshaphat with the news, saying, A great army is moving against you from Edom across the sea; and now they are in Hazazon-tamar (which is En-gedi).
3. Then Jehoshaphat, in his fear, went to the Lord for directions, and gave orders all through Judah for the people to go without food.
4. And Judah came together to make prayer for help from the Lord; from every town of Judah they came to give worship to the Lord.
5. And Jehoshaphat took his place in the meeting of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord in front of the new open space,
6. And said, O Lord, the God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? are you not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in your hands are power and strength so that no one is able to keep his place against you.
7. Did you not, O Lord our God, after driving out the people of this land before your people Israel, give it to the seed of Abraham, your friend, for ever?
8. And they made it their living-place, building there a holy house for your name, and saying,
9. If evil comes on us, the sword, or punishment, or disease, or need of food, we will come to this house and to you, (for your name is in this house,) crying to you in our trouble, and you will give us salvation in answer to our cry.
10. And now, see, the children of Ammon and Moab and the people of Mount Seir, whom you kept Israel from attacking when they came out of Egypt, so that turning to one side they did not send destruction on them:
11. See now, how as our reward they have come to send us out of your land which you have given us as our heritage.
12. O our God, will you not be their judge? for our strength is not equal to this great army which is coming against us; and we are at a loss what to do: but our eyes are on you.
13. And all Judah were waiting before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
14. Then, before all the meeting, the spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite and one of the family of Asaph;
15. And he said, Give ear, O Judah, and you people of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat: the Lord says to you, Have no fear and do not be troubled on account of this great army; for the fight is not yours but God's.
16. Go down against them tomorrow: see, they are coming up by the slope of Ziz; at the end of the valley, before the waste land of Jeruel, you will come face to face with them.
17. There will be no need for you to take up arms in this fight; put yourselves in position, and keep where you are, and you will see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: have no fear and do not be troubled: go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you.
18. Then Jehoshaphat went down with his face to the earth, and all Judah and the people of Jerusalem gave worship to the Lord, falling down before him.
19. And the Levites, the children of the Kohathites and the Korahites, got to their feet and gave praise to the Lord, the God of Israel, with a loud voice.
20. And early in the morning they got up and went out to the waste land of Tekoa: and when they were going out, Jehoshaphat took his station and said to them, Give ear to me, O Judah and you people of Jerusalem: have faith in the Lord your God and you will be safe; have faith in his prophets and all will go well for you.
21. And after discussion with the people, he put in their places those who were to make melody to the Lord, praising him in holy robes, while they went at the head of the army, and saying, May the Lord be praised, for his mercy is unchanging for ever.
22. And at the first notes of song and praise the Lord sent a surprise attack against the children of Ammon and Moab and the people of Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were overcome.
23. And the children of Ammon and Moab made an attack on the people of Mount Seir with a view to their complete destruction; and when they had put an end to the people of Seir, everyman's hand was turned against his neighbour for his destruction.
24. And Judah came to the watchtower of the waste land, and looking in the direction of the army, they saw only dead bodies stretched on the earth; no living man was to be seen.
25. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their goods from them, they saw beasts in great numbers, and wealth and clothing and things of value, more than they were able to take away; all this they took for themselves, and they were three days getting it away, there was so much.
26. On the fourth day they all came together in the Valley of Blessing, and there they gave blessing to the Lord; for which cause that place has been named the Valley of Blessing to this day.
27. Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem went back, with Jehoshaphat at their head, coming back to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them glad over their haters.
28. So they came to Jerusalem with corded instruments and wind-instruments into the house of the Lord.
29. And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the lands, when they had news of how the Lord made war on those who came against Israel.
30. So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for the Lord gave him rest on every side.
31. And Jehoshaphat was king over Judah: he was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling for twenty-five years in Jerusalem: his mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
32. He went in the ways of his father Asa, not turning away, but doing right in the eyes of the Lord.
33. The high places, however, were not taken away, and the hearts of the people were still not true to the God of their fathers.
34. Now as for the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, they are recorded in the words of Jehu, the son of Hanani, which were put in the book of the kings of Israel.
35. After this Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, became friends with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did much evil:
36. Together they made ships to go to Tarshish, building them in Ezion-geber.
37. Then the word of Eliezer the prophet, the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, came against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have let yourself be joined with Ahaziah, the Lord has sent destruction on your works. And the ships were broken and were not able to go to Tarshish.

Acts 4 / Basic English

1. And while they were talking to the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came up to them,
2. Being greatly troubled because they were teaching the people and preaching Jesus as an example of the coming back from the dead.
3. And they took them and put them in prison till the morning, for it was now evening.
4. But a number of those who gave hearing to the word had faith; and they were now about five thousand.
5. And on the day after, the rulers and those in authority and the scribes came together in Jerusalem;
6. And Annas, the high priest, was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all the relations of the high priest.
7. Then sending for Peter and John, they said, By what power and in whose name have you done this?
8. Then Peter, being full of the Holy Spirit, said to them, O you rulers of the people and men of authority,
9. If we are questioned today about a good work done to a man who was ill, as to how he has been made well,
10. Take note, all of you, and all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you put to death on the cross, whom God gave back from the dead, even through him is this man now before you completely well.
11. He is the stone which you builders had no use for, but which has been made the chief stone of the building.
12. And in no other is there salvation: for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, through which we may have salvation.
13. Now when they saw that Peter and John were without fear, though they were men of no education or learning, they were greatly surprised; and they took note of them that they had been with Jesus.
14. And, seeing that the man who had been made well was there with them, they were not able to say anything against it.
15. But when they had given them orders to go out of the Sanhedrin, they had a discussion among themselves,
16. Saying, What are we to do with these men? for certainly it is clear to all who are living in Jerusalem that a most important sign has been done by them, and it is not possible to say that it is not so.
17. But so that it may not go farther among the people, let us put them in fear of punishment if they say anything in future in this name.
18. And they sent for them, and gave them orders not to make statements or give teaching in the name of Jesus.
19. But Peter and John in answer said to them, It is for you to say if it is right in the eyes of God to give attention to you more than to God:
20. For it is not possible for us to keep from saying what we have seen and have knowledge of.
21. And when they had said more sharp words to them, they let them go, not seeing what punishment they might give them, because of the people; for all men were giving praise to God for what had taken place.
22. For the man on whom this act of power was done was more than forty years old.
23. And when they had been made free, they came back to their friends, and gave an account of all the things which the chief priests and the authorities had said to them.
24. And hearing it, they all, with one mind, made prayer to God and said, O Lord, maker of heaven and earth and the sea and all things in them:
25. Who has said, by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David your servant, Why are the nations so violently moved, and why are the thoughts of the people so foolish?
26. The kings of the earth were lifted up, the rulers came together, against the Lord, and against his Christ:
27. For, truly, in this town, against your holy servant, Jesus, who was marked out by you as Christ, Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, came together,
28. To do that which had been fixed before by your hand and your purpose.
29. And now, Lord, take note of their cruel words, and give your servants power to be preachers of your word without fear,
30. While your hand is stretched out to do works of mercy; so that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.
31. And when their prayer was ended, the place where they were was violently moved, and they all became full of the Holy Spirit, preaching the word of God without fear.
32. And all those who were of the faith were one in heart and soul: and not one of them said that any of the things which he had was his property only; but they had all things in common.
33. And with great power the Apostles gave witness of the coming back of the Lord Jesus from the dead; and grace was on them all.
34. And no one among them was in need; for everyone who had land or houses, exchanging them for money, took the price of them,
35. And put it at the feet of the Apostles for distribution to everyone as he had need.
36. And Joseph, who was given by the Apostles the name of Barnabas (the sense of which is, Son of comfort), a Levite and a man of Cyprus by birth,
37. Having a field, got money for it and put the money at the feet of the Apostles.