Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Nehemiah 13 / Basic English

1. On that day there was a reading from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and they saw that it said in the book that no Ammonite or Moabite might ever come into the meeting of God;
2. Because they did not give the children of Israel bread and water when they came to them, but got Balaam to put a curse on them: though the curse was turned into a blessing by our God.
3. So after hearing the law, they took out of Israel all the mixed people.
4. Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who had been placed over the rooms of the house of our God, being a friend of Tobiah,
5. Had made ready for him a great room, where at one time they kept the meal offerings, the perfume, and the vessels and the tenths of the grain and wine and oil which were given by order to the Levites and the music-makers and the door-keepers, and the lifted offerings for the priests.
6. But all this time I was not at Jerusalem: for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I went to the king; and after some days, I got the king to let me go,
7. And I came to Jerusalem; and it was clear to me what evil Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in making ready for him a room in the buildings of the house of God.
8. And it was evil in my eyes: so I had all Tobiah's things put out of the room.
9. Then I gave orders, and they made the rooms clean: and I put back in them the vessels of the house of God, with the meal offerings and the perfume.
10. And I saw that the Levites had not been given what was needed for their support; so that the Levites and the music-makers, who did the work, had gone away, everyone to his field.
11. Then I made protests to the chiefs, and said, Why has the house of God been given up? And I got them together and put them in their places.
12. Then all Judah came with the tenth part of the grain and wine and oil and put it into the store-houses.
13. And I made controllers over the store-houses, Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and with them was Hanan, the son of Zaccur the son of Mattaniah: they were taken to be true men and their business was the distribution of these things to their brothers.
14. Keep me in mind, O my God, in connection with this, and do not let the good which I have done for the house of my God and its worship go from your memory completely.
15. In those days, I saw in Judah some who were crushing grapes on the Sabbath, and getting in grain and putting it on asses; as well as wine and grapes and figs and all sorts of goods which they took into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: and I gave witness against them on the day when they were marketing food.
16. And there were men of Tyre there, who came with fish and all sorts of goods, trading with the children of Judah and in Jerusalem on the Sabbath.
17. Then I made protests to the chiefs of Judah, and said to them, What is this evil which you are doing, not keeping the Sabbath day holy?
18. Did not your fathers do the same, and did not our God send all this evil on us and on this town? but you are causing more wrath to come on Israel by not keeping the Sabbath holy.
19. And so, when the streets of Jerusalem were getting dark before the Sabbath, I gave orders for the doors to be shut and not to be open again till after the Sabbath: and I put some of my servants by the door so that nothing might be taken in on the Sabbath day.
20. So the traders in all sorts of goods took their night's rest outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21. Then I gave witness against them and said, Why are you waiting all night by the wall? if you do so again I will have you taken prisoners. From that time they did not come again on the Sabbath.
22. And I gave the Levites orders to make themselves clean and come and keep the doors and make the Sabbath holy. Keep this in mind to my credit, O my God, and have mercy on me, for great is your mercy.
23. And in those days I saw the Jews who were married to women of Ashdod and Ammon and Moab:
24. And their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples.
25. And I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair; and I made them take an oath by God, saying, You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
26. Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? among a number of nations there was no king like him, and he was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel: but even he was made to do evil by strange women.
27. Are we then without protest to let you do all this great evil, sinning against our God by taking strange women for your wives?
28. And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the chief priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite: so I sent him away from me.
29. Keep them in mind, O my God, because they have put shame on the priests' name and on the agreement of the priests and the Levites.
30. So I made them clean from all strange people, and had regular watches fixed for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work;
31. And for the wood offering, at fixed times, and for the first fruits. Keep me in mind, O my God, for good.

Esther 1 / Basic English

1. Now it came about in the days of Ahasuerus, (that Ahasuerus who was ruler of a hundred and twenty-seven divisions of the kingdom, from India as far as Ethiopia:)
2. That in those days, when King Ahasuerus was ruling in Shushan, his strong town,
3. In the third year of his rule he gave a feast to all his captains and his servants; and the captains of the army of Persia and Media, the great men and the rulers of the divisions of his kingdom, were present before him;
4. And for a long time, even a hundred and eighty days, he let them see all the wealth and the glory of his kingdom and the great power and honour which were his.
5. And at the end of that time, the king gave a feast for all the people who were present in Shushan, the king's town, small as well as great, for seven days, in the outer square of the garden of the king's house.
6. There were fair hangings of white and green and blue, fixed with cords of purple and the best linen to silver rings and pillars of polished stone: the seats were of gold and silver on a floor of red and white and yellow and black stone.
7. And they gave them drink in gold vessels, every vessel being different, and wine of the kingdom, freely given by the king.
8. And the drinking was in keeping with the law; no one was forced: for the king had given orders to all the chief servants of his house to do as was pleasing to every man.
9. And Vashti the queen gave a feast for the women in the house of King Ahasuerus.
10. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was glad with wine, he gave orders to Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven unsexed servants who were waiting before Ahasuerus the king,
11. That Vashti the queen was to come before him, crowned with her crown, and let the people and the captains see her: for she was very beautiful.
12. But when the servants gave her the king's order, Vashti the queen said she would not come: then the king was very angry, and his heart was burning with wrath.
13. And the king said to the wise men, who had knowledge of the times, (for this was the king's way with all who were expert in law and in the giving of decisions:
14. And second only to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven rulers of Persia and Media, who were friends of the king, and had the first places in the kingdom:)
15. What is to be done by law to Vashti the queen, because she has not done what King Ahasuerus, by his servants, gave her orders to do?
16. And before the king and the captains, Memucan gave his answer: Vashti the queen has done wrong, not only to the king, but to all the captains and to all the peoples in all the divisions of the kingdom of King Ahasuerus;
17. For news of what the queen has done will come to the ears of all women, and they will no longer give respect to their husbands when it is said to them, King Ahasuerus gave orders for Vashti the queen to come before him and she came not.
18. And the wives of the captains of Persia and Media, hearing what the queen has done, will say the same to all the king's captains. So there will be much shame and wrath.
19. If it is pleasing to the king, let an order go out from him, and let it be recorded among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it may never be changed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her place to another who is better than she.
20. And when this order, given by the king, is made public through all his kingdom (for it is great), all the wives will give honour to their husbands, great as well as small.
21. And this suggestion seemed good to the king and the captains; and the king did as Memucan said;
22. And sent letters to all the divisions of the kingdom, to every division in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs, saying that every man was to be the ruler in his house, and that this order was to be given out in the language of his people.

Acts 23 / Basic English

1. And Paul, looking fixedly at the Sanhedrin, said, My brothers, my life has been upright before God till this day.
2. And the high priest, Ananias, gave orders to those who were near him to give him a blow on the mouth.
3. Then Paul said to him, God will give blows to you, you whitewashed wall: are you here to be my judge by law, and by your orders am I given blows against the law?
4. And those who were near said, Do you say such words against God's high priest?
5. And Paul said, Brother, I had no idea that he was the high priest: for it has been said, You may not say evil about the ruler of your people.
6. But when Paul saw that half of them were Sadducees and the rest Pharisees, he said in the Sanhedrin, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees: I am here to be judged on the question of the hope of the coming back from the dead.
7. And when he had said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and a division in the meeting.
8. For the Sadducees say that there is no coming back from the dead, and no angels or spirits: but the Pharisees have belief in all these.
9. And there was a great outcry: and some of the scribes on the side of the Pharisees got up and took part in the discussion, saying, We see no evil in this man: what if he has had a revelation from an angel or a spirit?
10. And when the argument became very violent, the chief captain, fearing that Paul would be pulled in two by them, gave orders to the armed men to take him by force from among them, and take him into the army building.
11. And the night after, the Lord came to his side and said, Be of good heart, for as you have been witnessing for me in Jerusalem, so will you be my witness in Rome.
12. And when it was day, the Jews came together and put themselves under an oath that they would take no food or drink till they had put Paul to death.
13. And more than forty of them took this oath.
14. And they came to the chief priests and the rulers and said, We have taken a great oath to take no food till we have put Paul to death
15. So now, will you and the Sanhedrin make a request to the military authorities to have him sent down to you, as if you were desiring to go into the business in greater detail; and we, before ever he gets to you, will be waiting to put him to death.
16. But Paul's sister's son had word of their design, and he came into the army building and gave news of it to Paul.
17. And Paul sent for a captain and said, Take this young man to your chief, for he has news for him.
18. So he took him to the chief captain and said, Paul, the prisoner, made a request to me to take this young man to you, for he has something to say to you.
19. And the chief took him by the hand and, going on one side, said to him privately, What is it you have to say to me?
20. And he said, The Jews are in agreement together to make a request to you for Paul to be taken, on the day after this, into the Sanhedrin, to be questioned in greater detail.
21. But do not give way to them, for more than forty of them are waiting for him, having taken an oath not to take food or drink till they have put him to death: and now they are ready, waiting for your order.
22. So the chief captain let the young man go, saying to him, Do not say to anyone that you have given me word of these things.
23. And he sent for two captains and said, Make ready two hundred men, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, to go to Caesarea, at the third hour of the night:
24. And get beasts so that they may put Paul on them, and take him safely to Felix, the ruler.
25. And he sent a letter in these words:
26. Claudius Lysias, to the most noble ruler, Felix, peace be with you.
27. This man was taken by the Jews, and was about to be put to death by them, when I came on them with the army and took him out of danger, having knowledge that he was a Roman.
28. And, desiring to get at the reason for their attack on him, I took him down to their Sanhedrin:
29. Then it became clear to me that it was a question of their law, and that nothing was said against him which might be a reason for prison or death.
30. And when news was given to me that a secret design was being made against the man, I sent him straight away to you, giving orders to those who are against him to make their statements before you.
31. So the armed men, as they were ordered, took Paul and came by night to Antipatris.
32. But on the day after, they sent the horsemen on with him, and went back to their place:
33. And they, when they came to Caesarea, gave the letter to the ruler, and took Paul before him.
34. And after reading it, he said, What part of the country do you come from? And, hearing that he was from Cilicia,
35. I will give hearing to your cause, he said, when those who are against you have come. And he gave orders for him to be kept in Herod's Praetorium.