Basic English Version : Read the Bible in 1 Year

Daniel 9 / Basic English

1. In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldaeans;
2. In the first year of his rule, I, Daniel, saw clearly from the books the number of years given by the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah, in which the making waste of Jerusalem was to be complete, that is, seventy years.
3. And turning my face to the Lord God, I gave myself up to prayer, requesting his grace, going without food, in haircloth and dust.
4. And I made prayer to the Lord my God, putting our sins before him, and said, O Lord, the great God, greatly to be feared. keeping your agreement and mercy with those who have love for you and do your orders;
5. We are sinners, acting wrongly and doing evil; we have gone against you, turning away from your orders and from your laws:
6. We have not given ear to your servants the prophets, who said words in your name to our kings and our rulers and our fathers and all the people of the land.
7. O Lord, righteousness is yours, but shame is on us, even to this day; and on the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, and on all Israel, those who are near and those who are far off, in all the countries where you have sent them because of the sin which they have done against you.
8. O Lord, shame is on us, on our kings and our rulers and our fathers, because of our sin against you.
9. With the Lord our God are mercies and forgiveness, for we have gone against him;
10. And have not given ear to the voice of the Lord our God to go in the way of his laws which he put before us by the mouth of his servants the prophets.
11. And all Israel have been sinners against your law, turning away so as not to give ear to your voice: and the curse has been let loose on us, and the oath recorded in the law of Moses, the servant of God, for we have done evil against him.
12. And he has given effect to his words which he said against us and against those who were our judges, by sending a great evil on us: for under all heaven there has not been done what has been done to Jerusalem.
13. As it was recorded in the law of Moses, all this evil has come on us: but we have made no prayer for grace from the Lord our God that we might be turned from our evil doings and come to true wisdom.
14. So the Lord has been watching over this evil and has made it come on us: for the Lord our God is upright in all his acts which he has done, and we have not given ear to his voice.
15. And now, O Lord our God, who took your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and made a great name for yourself even to this day; we are sinners, we have done evil.
16. O Lord, because of your righteousness, let your wrath and your passion be turned away from your town Jerusalem, your holy mountain: because, through our sins and the evil-doing of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a cause of shame to all who are round about us.
17. And now, give ear, O our God, to the prayer of your servant and to his request for grace, and let your face be shining on your holy place which is made waste, because of your servants, O Lord.
18. O my God, let your ear be turned and give hearing; let your eyes be open and see how we have been made waste and the town which is named by your name: for we are not offering our prayers before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercies.
19. O Lord, give ear; O Lord, have forgiveness; O Lord, take note and do; let there be no more waiting; for the honour of your name, O my God, because your town and your people are named by your name.
20. And while I was still saying these words in prayer, and putting my sins and the sins of my people Israel before the Lord, and requesting grace from the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God;
21. Even while I was still in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at first when my weariness was great, put his hand on me about the time of the evening offering.
22. And teaching me and talking to me he said, O Daniel, I have come now to give you wisdom.
23. At the first word of your prayer a word went out, and I have come to give you knowledge; for you are a man dearly loved: so give thought to the word and let the vision be clear to you.
24. Seventy weeks have been fixed for your people and your holy town, to let wrongdoing be complete and sin come to its full limit, and for the clearing away of evil-doing and the coming in of eternal righteousness: so that the vision and the word of the prophet may be stamped as true, and to put the holy oil on a most holy place.
25. Have then the certain knowledge that from the going out of the word for the building again of Jerusalem till the coming of a prince, on whom the holy oil has been put, will be seven weeks: in sixty-two weeks its building will be complete, with square and earthwork.
26. And at the end of the times, even after the sixty-two weeks, one on whom the holy oil has been put will be cut off and have no ...; and the town and the holy place will be made waste together with a prince; and the end will come with an overflowing of waters, and even to the end there will be war; the making waste which has been fixed.
27. And a strong order will be sent out against the great number for one week; and so for half of the week the offering and the meal offering will come to an end; and in its place will be an unclean thing causing fear; till the destruction which has been fixed is let loose on him who has made waste.

Daniel 10 / Basic English

1. In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a secret was unfolded to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, even a hard work: and he had knowledge of it, and the vision was clear to him.
2. In those days I, Daniel, gave myself up to grief for three full weeks.
3. I had no pleasing food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, and I put no oil on my body till three full weeks were ended.
4. And on the twenty-fourth day of the first month I was by the side of the great river;
5. And lifting up my eyes I saw the form of a man clothed in a linen robe, and round him there was a band of gold, of the best gold:
6. And his body was like the beryl, and his face had the look of a thunder-flame, and his eyes were like burning lights, and his arms and feet like the colour of polished brass, and the sound of his voice was like the sound of an army.
7. And I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see it; but a great shaking came on them and they went in flight to take cover.
8. So I was by myself, and I saw this great vision, and all my strength went from me; and the colour went from my face.
9. But the sound of his words came to my ears, and on hearing his voice I went into a deep sleep with my face to the earth.
10. Then a hand gave me a touch, awaking me, and putting me on my knees and my hands.
11. And he said to me, O Daniel, you man dearly loved, take in the sense of the words I say to you and get up on to your feet: for to you I am now sent; and when he had said this to me I got on to my feet, shaking with fear.
12. Then he said to me, Have no fear, Daniel; for from the first day when you gave your heart to getting wisdom and making yourself poor in spirit before your God, your words have come to his ears: and I have come because of your words.
13. But the angel of the kingdom of Persia put himself against me for twenty-one days; but Michael, one of the chief angels, came to my help; and when I came he was still there with the angel of the kings of Persia.
14. Now I have come to give you knowledge of the fate of your people in the later days; for there is still a vision for the days.
15. And after he had said these words to me, I kept my face turned to the earth and was unable to say anything.
16. Then one whose form was like the sons of men put his finger on my lips; and opening my mouth, I said to him who was before me, O my lord, because of the vision my pains have come on me, and I have no more strength.
17. For how may this servant of my lord have talk with my lord? for, as for me, straight away my strength went from me and there was no breath in my body.
18. Then again one having the form of a man put his hand on me and gave me strength.
19. And he said to me, O man greatly loved, have no fear: peace be with you, be strong and let your heart be lifted up. And at his words I became strong, and said, Let my lord say on, for you have given me strength.
20. Then he said, It is clear to you why I have come to you. And now I will give you an account of what is recorded in the true writings:
21. But I am going back to make war with the angel of Persia, and when I am gone, the angel of Greece will come. And there is no one on my side against these, but Michael, your angel.

1 Peter 5 / Basic English

1. I who am myself one of the rulers of the church, and a witness of the death of Christ, having my part in the coming glory, send this serious request to the chief men among you:
2. Keep watch over the flock of God which is in your care, using your authority, not as forced to do so, but gladly; and not for unclean profit but with a ready mind;
3. Not as lords over God's heritage, but making yourselves examples to the flock.
4. And at the coming of the chief Keeper of the sheep, you will be given the eternal crown of glory.
5. And in the same way, let the younger men be ruled by the older ones. Let all of you put away pride and make yourselves ready to be servants: for God is a hater of pride, but he gives grace to those who make themselves low.
6. For this cause make yourselves low under the strong hand of God, so that when the time comes you may be lifted up;
7. Putting all your troubles on him, for he takes care of you.
8. Be serious and keep watch; the Evil One, who is against you, goes about like a lion with open mouth in search of food;
9. Do not give way to him but be strong in your faith, in the knowledge that your brothers who are in the world undergo the same troubles.
10. And after you have undergone pain for a little time, the God of all grace who has given you a part in his eternal glory through Christ Jesus, will himself give you strength and support, and make you complete in every good thing;
11. His is the power for ever. So be it.
12. I have sent you this short letter by Silvanus, a true brother, in my opinion; comforting you and witnessing that this is the true grace of God; keep to it.
13. She who is in Babylon, who has a part with you in the purpose of God, sends you her love; and so does my son Mark.
14. Give one another the kiss of love. Peace be to you all in Christ.