Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Daniel 1 / Basic English

1. In the third year of the rule of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem, shutting it in with his forces.
2. And the Lord gave into his hands Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he took them away into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he put the vessels into the store-house of his god.
3. And the king gave orders to Ashpenaz, the captain of his unsexed servants, to take in some of the children of Israel, certain of the king's family, and those of high birth;
4. Young men who were strong and healthy, good-looking, and trained in all wisdom, having a good education and much knowledge, and able to take positions in the king's house; and to have them trained in the writing and language of the Chaldaeans.
5. And a regular amount of food and wine every day from the king's table was ordered for them by the king; and they were to be cared for for three years so that at the end of that time they might take their places before the king.
6. And among these there were, of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
7. And the captain of the unsexed servants gave them names; to Daniel he gave the name of Belteshazzar, to Hananiah the name of Shadrach, to Mishael the name of Meshach, and to Azariah the name of Abed-nego.
8. And Daniel had come to the decision that he would not make himself unclean with the king's food or wine; so he made a request to the captain of the unsexed servants that he might not make himself unclean.
9. And God put into the heart of the captain of the unsexed servants kind feelings and pity for Daniel.
10. And the captain of the unsexed servants said to Daniel, I am in fear of my lord the king, who has given orders about your food and your drink; what if he sees you looking less happy than the other young men of your generation? then you would have put my head in danger from the king.
11. Then Daniel said to the keeper in whose care the captain of the unsexed servants had put Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
12. Put your servants to the test for ten days; let them give us grain for our food and water for our drink.
13. Then take a look at our faces and the faces of the young men who have food from the king's table; and, having seen them, do to your servants as it seems right to you.
14. So he gave ear to them in this thing and put them to the test for ten days.
15. And at the end of ten days their faces seemed fairer and they were fatter in flesh than all the young men who had their food from the king's table.
16. So the keeper regularly took away their meat and the wine which was to have been their drink, and gave them grain.
17. Now as for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and made them expert in all book-learning and wisdom: and Daniel was wise in all visions and dreams.
18. Now at the end of the time fixed by the king for them to go in, the captain of the unsexed servants took them in to Nebuchadnezzar.
19. And the king had talk with them; and among them all there was no one like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; so they were given places before the king.
20. And in any business needing wisdom and good sense, about which the king put questions to them, he saw that they were ten times better than all the wonder-workers and users of secret arts in all his kingdom.
21. And Daniel went on till the first year of King Cyrus.

Daniel 2 / Basic English

1. In the second year of the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep went from him.
2. Then the king gave orders that the wonder-workers, and the users of secret arts, and those who made use of evil powers, and the Chaldaeans, were to be sent for to make clear to the king his dreams. So they came and took their places before the king.
3. And the king said to them, I have had a dream, and my spirit is troubled by the desire to have the dream made clear to me.
4. Then the Chaldaeans said to the king in the Aramaean language, O King, have life for ever: give your servants an account of your dream, and we will make clear to you the sense of it.
5. The king made answer and said to the Chaldaeans, This is my decision: if you do not make clear to me the dream and the sense of it, you will be cut in bits and your houses made waste.
6. But if you make clear the dream and the sense of it, you will have from me offerings and rewards and great honour: so make clear to me the dream and the sense of it.
7. A second time they said in answer, Let the king give his servants an account of his dream, and we will make clear the sense.
8. The king made answer and said, I am certain that you are attempting to get more time, because you see that my decision is fixed;
9. That if you do not make my dream clear to me there is only one fate for you: for you have made ready false and evil words to say before me till the times are changed: so give me an account of the dream, and I will be certain that you are able to make the sense of it clear.
10. Then the Chaldaeans said to the king in answer, There is not a man on earth able to make clear the king's business; for no king, however great his power, has ever made such a request to any wonder-worker or user of secret arts or Chaldaean.
11. The king's request is a very hard one, and there is no other who is able to make it clear to the king, but the gods, whose living-place is not with flesh.
12. Because of this the king was angry and full of wrath, and gave orders for the destruction of all the wise men of Babylon.
13. So the order went out that the wise men were to be put to death; and they were looking for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.
14. Then Daniel gave an answer with wisdom and good sense to Arioch, the captain of the king's armed men, who had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon;
15. He made answer and said to Arioch, O captain of the king, why is the king's order so cruel? Then Arioch gave Daniel an account of the business.
16. And Daniel went in and made a request to the king to give him time and he would make clear the sense of his dream to the king.
17. And Daniel went to his house and gave his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah the news:
18. So that they might make a request for the mercy of the God of heaven in the question of this secret; so that Daniel and his friends might not come to destruction with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19. Then the secret was made clear to Daniel in a vision of the night. And Daniel gave blessing to the God of heaven.
20. And Daniel said in answer, May the name of God be praised for ever and ever: for wisdom and strength are his:
21. By him times and years are changed: by him kings are taken away and kings are lifted up: he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those whose minds are awake:
22. He is the unveiler of deep and secret things: he has knowledge of what is in the dark, and the light has its living-place with him.
23. I give you praise and worship, O God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and strength, and have now made clear to me what we were requesting from you: for you have given us knowledge of the king's business.
24. For this reason Daniel went to Arioch, to whom the king had given orders for the destruction of the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, Do not put to death the wise men of Babylon: take me in before the king and I will make clear to him the sense of the dream.
25. Then Arioch quickly took Daniel in before the king, and said to him, Here is a man from among the prisoners of Judah, who will make clear to the king the sense of the dream.
26. The king made answer and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make clear to me the dream which I saw and its sense?
27. Then Daniel said in answer to the king, No wise men, or users of secret arts, or wonder-workers, or readers of signs, are able to make clear to the king the secret he is searching for;
28. But there is a God in heaven, the unveiler of secrets, and he has given to King Nebuchadnezzar knowledge of what will take place in the last days. Your dreams and the visions of your head on your bed are these:
29. As for you, O King, the thoughts which came to you on your bed were of what will come about after this: and the unveiler of secrets has made clear to you what is to come.
30. As for me, this secret is not made clear to me because of any wisdom which I have more than any living man, but in order that the sense of the dream may be made clear to the king, and that you may have knowledge of the thoughts of your heart.
31. You, O King, were looking, and a great image was there. This image, which was very great, and whose glory was very bright, was placed before you: its form sent fear into the heart.
32. As for this image, its head was made of the best gold, its breast and its arms were of silver, its middle and its sides were of brass,
33. Its legs of iron, its feet were in part of iron and in part of potter's earth.
34. While you were looking at it, a stone was cut out, but not by hands, and it gave the image a blow on its feet, which were of iron and earth, and they were broken in bits.
35. Then the iron and the earth, the brass and the silver and the gold, were smashed together, and became like the dust on the floors where grain is crushed in summer; and the wind took them away so that no sign of them was to be seen: and the stone which gave the image a blow became a great mountain, covering all the earth.
36. This is the dream; and we will make clear to the king the sense of it.
37. You, O King, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory,
38. Wherever the children of men are living; into whose hands he has given the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven, and has made you ruler over them all, you are the head of gold.
39. And after you another kingdom, lower than you, will come to power; and a third kingdom, of brass, ruling over all the earth.
40. And the fourth kingdom will be strong as iron: because, as all things are broken and overcome by iron, so it will have the power of crushing and smashing down all the earth.
41. And as you saw the feet and toes, part of potter's work and part of iron, there will be a division in the kingdom; but there will be some of the strength of iron in it, because you saw the iron mixed with the potter's earth.
42. And as the toes of the feet were in part of iron and in part of earth, so part of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will readily be broken.
43. And as you saw the iron mixed with earth, they will give their daughters to one another as wives: but they will not be united one with another, even as iron is not mixed with earth.
44. And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will put up a kingdom which will never come to destruction, and its power will never be given into the hands of another people, and all these kingdoms will be broken and overcome by it, but it will keep its place for ever.
45. Because you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that by it the iron and the brass and the earth and the silver and the gold were broken to bits, a great God has given the king knowledge of what is to take place in the future: the dream is fixed, and its sense is certain.
46. Then King Nebuchadnezzar, falling down on his face, gave worship to Daniel, and gave orders for an offering and spices to be given to him;
47. And the king made answer to Daniel and said, Truly, your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings, and an unveiler of secrets, for you have been able to make this secret clear.
48. Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him offerings in great number, and made him ruler over all the land of Babylon, and chief over all the wise men of Babylon.
49. And at Daniel's request, the king gave Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego authority over the business of the land of Babylon: but Daniel was kept near the king's person.

1 Peter 1 / Basic English

1. Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the saints who are living in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2. Who, through the purpose of God, have been made holy by the Spirit, disciples of Jesus, made clean by his blood: May you have grace and peace in full measure.
3. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his great mercy has given us a new birth and a living hope by the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4. And a heritage fair, holy and for ever new, waiting in heaven for you,
5. Who, by the power of God are kept, through faith, for that salvation, which will be seen at the last day.
6. You have cause for great joy in this, though it may have been necessary for you to be troubled for a little time, being tested in all sorts of ways,
7. So that the true metal of your faith, being of much greater value than gold (which, though it comes to an end, is tested by fire), may come to light in praise and glory and honour, at the revelation of Jesus Christ:
8. To whom your love is given, though you have not seen him; and the faith which you have in him, though you do not see him now, gives you joy greater than words and full of glory:
9. For so you have the true end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
10. For the prophets who gave the news of the grace which would come to you, made search with all care for knowledge of this salvation;
11. Attempting to see what sort of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was pointing to, when it gave witness to the pains which Christ would undergo and the glories which would come after them.
12. And it was made clear to those prophets that they were God's servants not for themselves but for you, to give you word of the things which have now come to your ears from the preachers of the good news through the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; things which even angels have a desire to see.
13. So make your minds ready, and keep on the watch, hoping with all your power for the grace which is to come to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14. Like children ruled by God, do not go back to the old desires of the time when you were without knowledge:
15. But be holy in every detail of your lives, as he, whose servants you are, is holy;
16. Because it has been said in the Writings, You are to be holy, for I am holy.
17. And if you give the name of Father to him who, judging every man by his acts, has no respect for a man's position, then go in fear while you are on this earth:
18. Being conscious that you have been made free from that foolish way of life which was your heritage from your fathers, not through a payment of things like silver or gold which come to destruction,
19. But through holy blood, like that of a clean and unmarked lamb, even the blood of Christ:
20. Who was marked out by God before the making of the world, but was caused to be seen in these last times for you,
21. Who through him have faith in God who took him up again from the dead into glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.
22. And as you have made your souls clean, being ruled by what is true, and loving one another without deceit, see that your love is warm and from the heart:
23. Because you have had a new birth, not from the seed of man, but from eternal seed, through the word of a living and unchanging God.
24. For it is said, All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass becomes dry and the flower dead:
25. But the word of the Lord is eternal. And this is the word of the good news which was given to you.