2 Chronicles 33

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

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

2 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.

He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, like the disgusting things of the nations whom Yahweh had driven out before the people of Israel.

3 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.

For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he built altars for the Baals, he made Asherah poles, and he bowed down to all the stars of heaven and worshiped them.

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

Manasseh built altars in the house of Yahweh, although Yahweh had commanded, “It is in Jerusalem that my name will be forever.”

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

He built altars for all the stars of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of Yahweh.

6 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.

In the Valley of Ben Hinnom he caused his sons to pass through the fire. He practiced sorcery, divination and he read omens, and he consulted with those who talked with the dead and with those who talked with spirits. Manasseh did much evil in the sight of Yahweh, and he provoked him to anger.

7 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.

The carved figure he had made, he placed it in the house of God. It was about this house that God had spoken to David and Solomon his son; he had said, “It is in this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, that I will put my name forever.

8 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.”

I will not move the people of Israel any more out of the land that I assigned to their ancestors, if they will only be careful to keep all that I have commanded them, following all the law, statutes, and decrees which I gave them through Moses.”

9 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.

Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do evil even more than the nations that Yahweh had destroyed before the people of Israel.

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

Yahweh spoke to Manasseh, and to his people, but they paid no attention.

11 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.

So Yahweh brought on them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, bound him with fetters, and took him off to Babylon.

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

When Manasseh was in distress, he implored Yahweh, his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors.

13 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.

He prayed to him; and God was begged by him, and God heard his begging and brought him back to Jerusalem, into his kingship. Then Manasseh knew that Yahweh was God.

14 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.

After this, Manasseh built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, to the entrance at the Fish Gate. He surrounded the hill of Ophel with it and raised the wall up to a very great height. He put courageous commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

15 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.

He took away the foreign gods, the idol out of the house of Yahweh, and all the altars that he had built on the mount of the house of Yahweh and in Jerusalem, and threw them out of the city.

16 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.

He rebuilt the altar of Yahweh and offered on it sacrifices of fellowship offerings and thank offerings; he commanded Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel.

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

However, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to Yahweh, their God.

18 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.

As to the other matters concerning Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, behold, they are written among the deeds of the kings of Israel.

19 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.

In that account there is history of his prayer, and how God was moved by it. There is also an account of all his sin and his trespasses, and the places where he had built high places and set up the Asherah poles and the carved figures, before he humbled himself—they are written about in the Chronicles of the Seers.

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

So Manasseh slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in his own house. Amon, his son, became king in his place.

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

Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned two years in Jerusalem.

22 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.

He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as Manasseh, his father, had done. Amon sacrificed to all the carved figures that Manasseh his father had made, and he worshiped them.

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

He did not humble himself before Yahweh, as Manasseh his father had done. Instead, this same Amon trespassed more and more.

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

His servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house.

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

But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made Josiah, his son, king in his place.