2 Kings 21

1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hephzibah.

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.

2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accord with the idols of the nations that the Lord destroyed before the face of the sons of Israel.

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.

3 And he turned away. And he built up the high places that his father, Hezekiah, had destroyed. And he erected altars to Baal, and he made sacred groves, just as Ahab, the king of Israel, had done. And he adored the entire army of heaven, and he served them.

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.

4 And he constructed altars in the house of the Lord, about which the Lord said: “In Jerusalem, I will place my name.”

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

5 And he constructed altars, for the entire army of heaven, within the two courts of the temple of the Lord.

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

6 And he led his son through fire. And he used divinations, and observed omens, and appointed soothsayers, and multiplied diviners, so that he did evil before the Lord, and provoked him.

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.

7 Also, he set up an idol, of the sacred grove that he had made, in the temple of the Lord, about which the Lord said to David, and to his son Solomon: “In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name forever.

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.

8 And I will no longer cause the feet of Israel to be moved from the land that I gave to their fathers: if only they will take care to do all that I have instructed them, and the entire law that my servant Moses commanded to them.”

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.

9 Yet truly, they did not listen. Instead, they were seduced by Manasseh, so that they did evil, more so than the nations that the Lord crushed before the face of the sons of Israel.

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.

10 And so the Lord spoke, by the hand of his servants, the prophets, saying:

And the Lord said, by his servants the prophets,

11 “Since Manasseh, the king of Judah, has committed these wicked abominations, beyond all that the Amorites before him have done, and also has caused Judah to sin by his defilements,

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,

12 because of this, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will lead evils over Jerusalem and over Judah, such that, whoever will hear of these things, both his ears will ring.

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.

13 And I will extend the measuring line of Samaria over Jerusalem, with the scale of the house of Ahab. And I will erase Jerusalem, just as writing tablets are usually erased. And after erasing, I will turn it and repeatedly drag a stylus over its surface.

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.

14 And truly, I will send away the remnants of my inheritance, and I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And they will be devastated and plundered by all their adversaries.

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;

15 For they have done evil before me, and they have persevered in provoking me, from the day when their fathers departed from Egypt, even to this day.

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.

16 Moreover, Manasseh also has shed an exceedingly great amount of innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem even to the mouth, aside from his sins by which he caused Judah to sin, so that they did evil before the Lord.”

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.

17 Now the rest of the words of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?

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?

18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. And Amon, his son, reigned in his place.

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.

19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah.

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.

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

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

21 And he walked in all the ways in which his father had walked. And he served the unclean things that his father had served, and he adored them.

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;

22 And he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and he did not walk in the way of the Lord.

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

23 And his servants undertook treachery against him. And they killed the king in his own house.

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

24 But the people of the land slew all those who had conspired against king Amon. And they appointed for themselves Josiah, his son, as king in his place.

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.

25 But the rest of the words of Amon, which he did, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?

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

26 And they buried him in his sepulcher, in the garden of Uzza. And his son, Josiah, reigned in his place.

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