2 Chronicles 33

1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he was ruling for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

Manasseh was twelve when he became king, and he reigned in for Jerusalem fifty-five years.

2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the disgusting ways of the nations whom the Lord had sent out of the land before the children of Israel.

He did evil in the Lord's sight by following the disgusting religious practices of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

3 For he put up again the high places which had been pulled down by his father Hezekiah; and he made altars for the Baals, and pillars of wood, and was a worshipper and servant of all the stars of heaven;

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he made altars for the Baals and set up Asherah poles. He worshiped the sun, moon, and stars and served them.

4 And he made altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem will my name be for ever.

He built altars in the Lord's Temple, about which the Lord had said, “I shall be honored in Jerusalem forever.”

5 And he made altars for all the stars of heaven in the two outer squares of the house of the Lord.

He built these altars to worship the sun, moon, and stars in both courtyards of the Lord's Temple.

6 More than this, he made his children go through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he made use of secret arts, and signs for reading the future, and unnatural powers, and gave positions to those who had control of spirits and to wonder-workers: he did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, moving him to wrath.

He sacrificed his children by burning them to death in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and visited mediums and spiritists. He did a great deal of evil in the Lord's sight, making him angry.

7 And he put the image he had made in the house of God, the house of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, the town which I have made mine out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

He took a pagan idol he had made and set it up in God's Temple, about which God had told David and his son Solomon, “I will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel.

8 And never again will I let the feet of Israel be moved out of the land which I have given to their fathers; if only they will take care to do all my orders, even all the law and the orders and the rules given to them by Moses.

If the Israelites are careful to follow everything I have instructed them to do—all the laws, commandments, and regulations, given through Moses—then I will not make them leave the land I granted your forefathers.”

9 And Manasseh made Judah and the people of Jerusalem go out of the true way, so that they did more evil than those nations whom the Lord gave up to destruction before the children of Israel.

But Manasseh seduced Judah and the people of Jerusalem, leading them to commit even worse sins than the nations the Lord had destroyed before Israelites.

10 And the word of the Lord came to Manasseh and his people, but they gave no attention.

The Lord warned Manasseh and his people, but they ignored him.

11 So the Lord sent against them the captains of the army of Assyria, who made Manasseh a prisoner and took him away in chains to Babylon.

So the Lord sent the armies of Assyria with their commanders to attack them. The Assyrians captured Manasseh, put a hook through his nose, put bronze shackles on him, and took him away to Babylon.

12 And crying out to the Lord his God in his trouble, he made himself low before the God of his fathers,

In his misery, asked the Lord God for help, repenting for his arrogance before the God of his forefathers.

13 And made prayer to him; and in answer to his prayer God let him come back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh was certain that the Lord was God.

He prayed and prayed, and the Lord listened to his pleadings, so the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh was convinced that the Lord is God.

14 After this he made an outer wall for the town of David, on the west side of Gihon in the valley, as far as the way into the town by the fish doorway; and he put a very high wall round the Ophel; and he put captains of the army in all the walled towns of Judah.

After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the Fish Gate, and around the hill of Ophel, and made it much higher. He also assigned army commanders to all the fortified towns of Judah.

15 He took away the strange gods and the image out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars he had put up on the hill of the Lord's house and in Jerusalem, and put them out of the town.

He disposed of the foreign gods and the idol from the Lord's Temple, together with all the altars he had built on the Temple hill and in Jerusalem, throwing all of them outside the city.

16 And he put the altar of the Lord in order, offering peace-offerings and praise-offerings on it, and said that all Judah were to be servants of the Lord, the God of Israel.

Then he restored the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed friendship offerings and thank offerings on it, and he instructed Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.

17 However, the people still made offerings in the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

But the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words which the seers said to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are recorded among the acts of the kings of Israel.

The rest of what Manasseh did, along with his prayer to his God and what he was told by the seers who spoke on the Lord's behalf are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

19 And the prayer which he made to God, and how God gave him an answer, and all his sin and his wrongdoing, and the places where he made high places and put up pillars of wood and images, before he put away his pride, are recorded in the history of the seers.

His prayer and how God answered him, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, and where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he admitted he was wrong, are recorded in the Records of the Seers.

20 So Manasseh went to rest with his fathers, and they put his body to rest in his house, and Amon his son became king in his place.

Manasseh died and was buried at his palace. His son Amon took over as king.

21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king; and he was ruling for two years in Jerusalem.

Amon was twenty-two when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for two years.

22 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done; and Amon made offerings to all the images which his father Manasseh had made, and was their servant.

He did evil in the Lord's sight just as his father Manasseh had. Amon worshiped and sacrificed to all the idols his father Manasseh had made.

23 He did not make himself low before the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done, but went on sinning more and more.

However, he did not admit his pride before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done—in fact Amon made his guilt even worse.

24 And his servants made a secret design against him, and put him to death in his house.

Then Amon's officials plotted against him and killed him in his palace.

25 But the people of the land put to death all those who had taken part in the design against King Amon, and made his son Josiah king in his place.

But the people of the land killed everyone who had plotted against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king.