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 began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.

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 that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, after the abominations of the nations whom the LORD cast 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.

For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he raised up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel did, and worshipped all the army of the sky, and served them.

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.”

He built altars in the LORD’s house, of which the LORD said, “I will put my name in Jerusalem.”

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

He built altars for all the army of the sky in the two courts of the LORD’s house.

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.

He made his son to pass through the fire, practised sorcery, used enchantments, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits and with wizards. He did much evil in the LORD’s sight, to provoke him to anger.

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 set the engraved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever;

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.”

I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded 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 didn’t listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than the nations did whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.

10 The Lord said through his servants the prophets:

The LORD spoke by his servants the prophets, saying,

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 abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has also made Judah to sin with his idols;

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.

therefore the LORD the God of Israel says, ‘Behold, I will bring such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle.

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.

I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plumb line of Ahab’s house; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

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,

I will cast off the remnant of my inheritance and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. They will become a prey and a plunder to all their enemies,

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 that which is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to 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.

Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; in addition to his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the LORD’s sight.

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 that he did, and his sin that he sinned, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles 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.

Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned 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 began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 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 that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, as Manasseh his father did.

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 walked in all the ways that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them;

22 He rejected the Lord, the God of his forefathers, and did not follow the way of the Lord.

and he abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and didn’t walk in the way of the LORD.

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

The servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own 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 killed all those who had conspired against King Amon; and the people of the land 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 of Amon which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles 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 buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.