2 Kings 21

1 Manasseh was twelve when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother's name 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 He did what was evil in the Lord's sight by following the disgusting pagan practices of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

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 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal. He made an Asherah idol pole, just as Ahab, king of Israel, had done, and he worshiped and served the sun, moon, and stars.

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 He set up pagan altars in the Lord's Temple, right where the Lord had said, “I will place my name in Jerusalem forever.”

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 He set up altars to worship the sun, moon, and stars in the two courtyards of the Lord's Temple.

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

6 He even he sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering, and used fortune-telling and witchcraft, and he dealt with mediums and with spiritists. He did a great deal of evil in the Lord's sight, making the Lord angry.

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 He took the Asherah idol pole he had made and placed in the Temple. This was the place referred to by the Lord when he told David and Solomon, his son, “In this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from 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 I will never again make the Israelites wander from the land I gave their forefathers if they are careful to follow everything I have ordered them to do—the whole law that my servant Moses gave 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 The people refused to listen and Manasseh led them to sin so that the evil they did was even worse than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.

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 The Lord said through his servants the prophets:

And the Lord said, by his servants the prophets,

11 “Since Manasseh, king of Judah, has committed all these disgusting sins, doing even more evil things than the Amorites who lived before him, and by his encouragement of idol worship has made Judah sin,

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 this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Watch out! I am going to bring down upon Jerusalem and Judah such a disaster that it will cause ringing in the ears of everyone who hears it.

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 I will extend over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe away Jerusalem as people wipe clean a bowl, wiping it and turning it upside down.

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 I will give up on the remnant of my special people and hand them over to their enemies. They will be plunder and loot to all their enemies,

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 because they have done what is evil in my sight, and have made me angry from the day their fathers left Egypt until today.”

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 On top of that, Manasseh murdered so many innocent people that Jerusalem was filled from one side to the other with their blood. This was in addition to the sin that he had made Judah commit, doing evil in the Lord's sight.

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 The rest of what happened in Manasseh's reign, all he did, as well as the sins he committed, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles 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 Manasseh died, and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. His son Amon succeeded him as king.

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 when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for two years. His mother's name was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz. She came 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 He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, just as his father Manasseh had done.

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

21 He followed all the ways of his father, and he served the idols his father had served, bowing down in worship to 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 He rejected the Lord, the God of his forefathers, and did not follow the way of the Lord.

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

23 Amon's officials plotted against him and murdered him in his royal palace.

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

24 But then the people of the land killed everyone who had plotted against King Amon, and they chose his son Josiah king to succeed him.

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 The rest of what happened in Amon's reign, and all he did, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles 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 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah succeeded him as king.

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