Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Jeremiah 28 / Basic English

1. And it came about in that year, when Zedekiah first became king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah, the son of Azzur the prophet, who came from Gibeon, said to Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, before the priests and all the people,
2. These are the words of the Lord of armies, the God of Israel: By me the yoke of the king of Babylon has been broken.
3. In the space of two years I will send back into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took away from this place to Babylon:
4. And I will let Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, come back to this place, with all the prisoners of Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord: for I will have the yoke of the king of Babylon broken.
5. Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, before the priests and all the people who had come into the house of the Lord,
6. The prophet Jeremiah said, So be it: may the Lord do so: may the Lord give effect to the words which you have said, and let the vessels of the Lord's house, and all the people who have been taken away, come back from Babylon to this place.
7. But still, give ear to this word which I am saying to you and to all the people:
8. The prophets, who were before me and before you, from early times gave word to a number of countries and great kingdoms about war and destruction and disease.
9. The prophet whose words are of peace, when his words come true, will be seen to be a prophet whom the Lord has sent.
10. Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and it was broken by his hands.
11. And before all the people Hananiah said, The Lord has said, Even so will I let the yoke of the king of Babylon be broken off the necks of all the nations in the space of two years. Then the prophet Jeremiah went away.
12. Then after the yoke had been broken off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah by Hananiah the prophet, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
13. Go and say to Hananiah, This is what the Lord has said: Yokes of wood have been broken by you, but in their place I will make yokes of iron.
14. For the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: I have put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these nations, making them servants to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and they are to be his servants: and in addition I have given him the beasts of the field.
15. Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, Give ear, now, Hananiah; the Lord has not sent you; but you are making this people put their faith in what is false.
16. For this reason the Lord has said, See, I will send you away from off the face of the earth: this year death will overtake you, because you have said words against the Lord.
17. So death came to Hananiah the prophet the same year, in the seventh month.

Jeremiah 29 / Basic English

1. Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the responsible men among those who had been taken away, and to the priests and the prophets and to all the rest of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon;
2. (After Jeconiah the king and the queen-mother and the unsexed servants and the rulers of Judah and Jerusalem and the expert workmen and the metal-workers had gone away from Jerusalem;)
3. By the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,) saying,
4. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said to all those whom I have taken away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5. Go on building houses and living in them, and planting gardens and using the fruit of them;
6. Take wives and have sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may have sons and daughters; and be increased in number there and do not become less.
7. And be working for the peace of the land to which I have had you taken away prisoners, and make prayer to the Lord for it: for in its peace you will have peace.
8. For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Do not let yourselves be tricked by the prophets who are among you, and the readers of signs, and give no attention to their dreams which they may have;
9. For they are saying to you what is false in my name: I have not sent them, says the Lord.
10. For this is what the Lord has said: When seventy years are ended for Babylon, I will have pity on you and give effect to my good purpose for you, causing you to come back to this place.
11. For I am conscious of my thoughts about you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you hope at the end.
12. And you will go on crying to me and making prayer to me, and I will give ear to you.
13. And you will be searching for me and I will be there, when you have gone after me with all your heart.
14. I will be near you again, says the Lord, and your fate will be changed, and I will get you together from all the nations and from all the places where I had sent you away, says the Lord; and I will take you back again to the place from which I sent you away prisoners.
15. For you have said, The Lord has given us prophets in Babylon.
16. For this is what the Lord has said about the king who is seated on the seat of David's kingdom, and about all the people living in this town, your countrymen who have not gone out with you as prisoners;
17. This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, I will send on them the sword and need of food and disease, and will make them like bad figs, which are of no use for food, they are so bad.
18. I will go after them, attacking them with the sword and with need of food and with disease, and will make them a cause of fear to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and a wonder and a surprise and a name of shame among all the nations where I have sent them:
19. Because they have not given ear to my words, says the Lord, when I sent to them my servants the prophets, getting up early and sending them; but you did not give ear, says the Lord.
20. And now, give ear to the word of the Lord, all you whom I have sent away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said about Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and about Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are saying to you what is false in my name: See, I will give them up into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your eyes.
22. And their fate will be used as a curse by all the prisoners of Judah who are in Babylon, who will say, May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, who were burned in the fire by the king of Babylon;
23. Because they have done shame in Israel, and have taken their neighbours' wives, and in my name have said false words, which I did not give them orders to say; and I myself am the witness, says the Lord.
24. About Shemaiah the Nehelamite.
25. Shemaiah the Nehelamite sent a letter in his name to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
26. The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada the priest, to be an overseer in the house of the Lord for every man who is off his head and is acting as a prophet, to put such men in prison and in chains.
27. So why have you made no protest against Jeremiah of Anathoth, who is acting as a prophet to you?
28. For he has sent to us in Babylon saying, The time will be long: go on building houses and living in them, and planting gardens and using the fruit of them.
29. And Zephaniah the priest made clear to Jeremiah the prophet what was said in the letter, reading it to him.
30. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
31. Send to all those who have been taken away, saying, This is what the Lord has said about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has been acting as a prophet to you, and I did not send him, and has made you put your faith in what is false;
32. For this cause the Lord has said, Truly I will send punishment on Shemaiah and on his seed; not a man of his family will have a place among this people, and he will not see the good which I am going to do to my people, says the Lord: because he has said words against the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 2 / Basic English

1. For you yourselves, brothers, are conscious that our coming among you was not without effect:
2. But after we had first undergone much pain and been cruelly attacked as you saw, at Philippi, by the help of God we gave you the good news without fear, though everything was against us.
3. For our witness does not come from error or from an unclean heart or from deceit:
4. But even as the good news was given to us by the approval of God, so we give it out; not as pleasing men, but God by whom our hearts are tested.
5. For it is common knowledge among you that we never made use of smooth-sounding false words, and God is witness that at no time were we secretly desiring profit for ourselves,
6. Or looking for glory from men, from you or from others, when we might have made ourselves a care to you as Apostles of Christ.
7. But we were gentle among you, like a woman caring for her little ones:
8. Even so, being full of loving desire for you, we took delight in giving you not only God's good news, but even our lives, because you were dear to us.
9. For you have the memory, my brothers, of our trouble and care; how, working night and day, so that we might not be a trouble to any of you, we gave you the good news of God.
10. You are witnesses, with God, how holy and upright and free from all evil was our way of life among you who have faith;
11. Even as you saw how, like a father with his children, we were teaching and comforting you all, and giving witness,
12. So that your lives might be pleasing to God, who has given you a part in his kingdom and his glory.
13. And for this cause we still give praise to God, that, when the word came to your ears through us, you took it, not as the word of man, but, as it truly is, the word of God, which has living power in you who have faith.
14. For you, my brothers, took as your examples the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus; because you underwent the same things from your countrymen as they did from the Jews;
15. Who put to death the Lord Jesus and the prophets, violently driving us out; who are unpleasing to God and against all men;
16. Who, to make the measure of their sins complete, kept us from giving the word of salvation to the Gentiles: but the wrath of God is about to come on them in the fullest degree.
17. But we, my brothers, being away from you for a short time, in body but not in heart, had all the more desire to see your face;
18. For which reason we made attempts to come to you, even I, Paul, once and again; but Satan kept us from coming.
19. For what is our hope or joy or crown of glory? Are not even you, before our Lord Jesus, at his coming?
20. For you are our glory and our joy.