2 Kings 21

1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king; for fifty-five years he was ruling in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Hephzi-bah.

Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Haphsiba.

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

And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the idols of the nations, which the Lord destroyed from before the face of the children of Israel.

3 He put up again the high places which had been pulled down by Hezekiah his father; he made altars for Baal, and an Asherah, as Ahab, king of Israel, had done; he was a worshipper and servant of all the stars of heaven.

And he turned, and built up the high places which Ezechias his father had destroyed: and he set up altars to Baal, and made groves, as Achab the king of Israel had done: and he adored all the host of heaven, and served them.

4 And he put up altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said: In Jerusalem I will put my name.

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

And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the temple of the Lord.

6 And he made his son go through the fire, and made use of secret arts and signs for reading the future; he 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.

And he made his son pass through fire: and he used divination, and observed omens, and appointed pythons, and multiplied soothsayers to do evil before the Lord, and to provoke him.

7 He put the image of Asherah which he had made in the house of which the Lord 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, I will put my name for ever.

He set also an idol of the grove, which he had made, in the temple of the Lord: concerning which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son: In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever.

8 And never again will I send the feet of Israel wandering from the land which I gave to their fathers; if only they will take care to do all my orders, and keep all the law which my servant Moses gave them.

And I will no more make the feet of Israel to be moved out of the land, which I gave to their fathers: only if they will observe to do all that I have commanded them according to the law which my servant Moses commanded them.

9 But they did not give ear; and Manasseh made them do more evil than those nations did, whom the Lord gave up to destruction before the children of Israel.

But they hearkened not: but were seduced by Manasses, to do evil more than the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.

10 And the Lord said, by his servants the prophets,

And the Lord spoke in the hand of his servants, the prophets, saying:

11 Because Manasseh, king of Judah, has done these disgusting things, doing more evil than all the Amorites before him, and making Judah do evil with his false gods,

Because Manasses king of Juda hath done these most wicked abominations, beyond all that the Amorrhites did before him, and hath made Juda also to sin with his filthy doings:

12 For this cause, says the Lord, the God of Israel, I will send such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of all to whom the news comes will be burning.

Therefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Behold I will bring on evils upon Jerusalem and Juda: that whosoever shall hear of them, both his ears shall tingle.

13 And over Jerusalem will be stretched the line of Samaria and the weight of Ahab; Jerusalem will be washed clean as a plate is washed, and turned over on its face.

And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the weight of the house of Achab: and I will efface Jerusalem, as tables are wont to be effaced, and I will erase and turn it, and draw the pencil often over the face thereof.

14 And I will put away from me the rest of my heritage, and give them up into the hands of their haters, who will take their property and their goods for themselves;

And I will leave the remnants of my inheritance, and will deliver them into the hands of their enemies: and they shall become a prey, and a spoil to all their enemies.

15 Because they have done evil in my eyes, moving me to wrath, from the day when their fathers came out of Egypt till this day.

Because they have done evil before me, and have continued to provoke me, from the day that their fathers came out of Egypt, even unto this day.

16 More than this, Manasseh took the lives of upright men, till Jerusalem from one end to the other was full of blood; in addition to his sin in making Judah do evil in the eyes of the Lord.

Moreover Manasses shed also very much innocent blood, till he filled Jerusalem up to the mouth: besides his sins, wherewith he made Juda to sin, to do evil before the Lord.

17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all he did, and his sins, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

Now the rest of the acts of Manasses, and all that he did, and his sin which he sinned, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

18 So Manasseh went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son became king in his place.

And Manasses slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Oza: and Amen his son reigned in his stead.

19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, ruling in Jerusalem for two years; his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

Two and twenty years old was Amen when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Messalemeth the daughter of Harus of Jeteba.

20 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done.

And he did evil in the sight, of the Lord, as Manasses his father had done.

21 He went in all the ways of his father, being a servant and worshipper of the false gods to which his father had been a servant;

And he walked in all the way in which his father had walked: and he served the abominations which his father had served, and he adored them;

22 Turning away from the Lord, the God of his fathers, and not walking in his ways.

And forsook the Lord the God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord.

23 And the servants of Amon made a secret design against him, and put the king to death in his house.

And his servants plotted against him, and slew the king in his own house.

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

But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amen: and made Josias his son their king in his stead.

25 Now the rest of the acts which Amon did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

But the rest of the acts of Amen which he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

26 He was put in his last resting-place in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son became king in his place.

And they buried him in his sepulchre in the garden of Oza: and his son Josias reigned in his stead.