2 Kings 21

1 Manasseh [is] a son of twelve years in his reigning, and he has reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Hephzi-Bah;

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to rule. He ruled Judah for 55 years from Jerusalem. His mother was Hephzibah.

2 and he does evil in the eyes of YHWH, according to the abominations of the nations that YHWH dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel,

He did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil. He imitated the disgusting things that were formerly done by the people of the nations that Yahweh had expelled from the land of Israel as his people advanced [through the land].

3 and he turns and builds the high places that his father Hezekiah destroyed, and raises altars for Ba‘al, and makes an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel did, and bows himself to all the host of the heavens, and serves them.

He commanded his workers to rebuild the shrines [for worshiping Yahweh] that his father Hezekiah had destroyed [because they were not in the place that Yahweh had said they should worship him]. He directed his workers to build altars for worshiping Baal. He made [a statue of the goddess] Asherah, like Ahab the king of Israel had done [previously]. And Manasseh worshiped [DOU] the stars.

4 And he has built altars in the house of YHWH, of which YHWH said, “In Jerusalem I put My Name.”

He directed his workers to build altars [for worshiping foreign gods] in the temple of Yahweh, about which Yahweh had said, “It is here in Jerusalem where I want people to worship [MTY] me, forever.”

5 And he builds altars to all the host of the heavens in the two courts of the house of YHWH;

He directed that altars for worshiping the stars be built in both of the courtyards outside the temple.

6 and he has caused his son to pass through fire, and observed clouds, and used enchantment, and dealt with a familiar spirit and wizards; he has multiplied to do evil in the eyes of YHWH—to provoke to anger.

He even sacrificed his own son by burning [him in a fire]. He performed rituals to practice sorcery and magic rituals. He also went to people who consulted the spirits of dead people to find out what would happen in the future. He did many things that Yahweh considered to be extremely evil, things that caused Yahweh to become very angry.

7 And he sets the carved image of the Asherah that he made in the house of which YHWH said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I put My Name for all time;

He placed the statue of the goddess Asherah in the temple, the place about which Yahweh had said to David and his son Solomon, “My temple will be here in Jerusalem. This is the city that I have chosen from all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel, where I want people to worship me, forever.

8 and I do not add to cause the foot of Israel to move from the ground that I gave to their fathers, only, if they observe to do according to all that I commanded them, and to all the Law that My servant Moses commanded them.”

And if the Israeli people obey all my commands and all the laws that I gave to Moses, the man who served me [very well], I will not again force them to leave this land that I gave to their ancestors.”

9 And they have not listened, and Manasseh causes them to err, to do evil above the nations that YHWH destroyed from the presence of the sons of Israel.

But the people did not heed Yahweh. And Manasseh persuaded them to commit sins that are more evil than the sins that were committed by the people of the nations that Yahweh had expelled from the land as the Israeli people advanced.

10 And YHWH speaks by the hand of his servants the prophets, saying,

[These are some of the things that] the prophets said many times, messages that Yahweh had given them:

11 “Because that Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations—he has done evil above all that the Amorites have done who [are] before him, and also causes Judah to sin by his idols—

“Manasseh, the king of Judah, has done these abominable things, things that are much worse than the things that the Amor people-group did in this land long ago. He has persuaded the people of Judah to sin by [worshiping] idols.

12 therefore, thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing in calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, his two ears tingle.

Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israeli people worship, say: I will the cause the people of Jerusalem and the rest of Judah to experience great disasters. It will be terrible, with the result that everyone who hears about it will be stunned [MTY].

13 And I have stretched out the line of Samaria over Jerusalem, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and wiped Jerusalem as one wipes the dish—he has wiped, and has turned [it] on its face.

I will judge and punish [MET] the people of Jerusalem like I punished the family of King Ahab [of Israel]. I will (wipe Jerusalem clean/remove all the people from Jerusalem), like [MET] people wipe a plate and then turn it upside down [after they have finished eating, to show that they are now satisfied].

14 And I have left the remnant of My inheritance, and given them into the hand of their enemies, and they have been for a prey and for a spoil to all their enemies,

And I will abandon the people who remain alive, and I will allow their enemies to conquer them and steal everything valuable from their land.

15 because that they have done evil in My eyes, and are provoking Me to anger from the day that their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”

I will do this because my people have done things that I consider to be very evil, things which have caused me to become very angry. They have caused me to become angry continually, ever since their ancestors left Egypt.”

16 And also, Manasseh has shed very much innocent blood, until he has filled Jerusalem mouth to mouth, apart from his sin that he has caused Judah to sin, to do evil in the eyes of YHWH.

Manasseh [commanded his officials to] kill many innocent people in Jerusalem, with the result that their blood flowed in the streets. He did this in addition to persuading the people of Judah to sin against Yahweh [by worshiping idols].

17 And the rest of the matters of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

[If you want to know more about] all the things that Manasseh did, they are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

18 And Manasseh lies with his fathers, and is buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon reigns in his stead.

Manasseh died [EUP] and was buried in the garden outside his palace, the garden that Uzza [had made]. Then Manasseh’s son Amon became the king.

19 Amon [is] a son of twenty-two years in his reigning, and he has reigned two years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz of Jotbah,

Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He ruled Judah from Jerusalem for [only] two years. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth. She was from Jotbah [town], and was the granddaughter of Haruz.

20 and he does evil in the eyes of YHWH, as his father Manasseh did,

Amon did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil, like his father Manasseh had done.

21 and walks in all the way that his father walked in, and serves the idols that his father served, and bows himself to them,

He imitated the behavior of his father, and he worshiped the same idols that his father had worshiped [DOU].

22 and forsakes YHWH, God of his fathers, and has not walked in the way of YHWH.

He abandoned Yahweh, the God whom his ancestors [had worshiped], and did not behave as Yahweh wanted him to.

23 And the servants of Amon conspire against him, and put the king to death in his own house,

Then one day some of his officials plotted to kill him. They assassinated him in the palace.

24 and the people of the land strike all those conspiring against King Amon, and the people of the land cause his son Josiah to reign in his stead.

But then the people of Judah killed all those who had assassinated King Amon, and they appointed his son Josiah to be their king.

25 And the rest of the matters of Amon that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

[If you want to read about] [RHQ] the other things that Amon did, they are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

26 And [one] buries him in his burying-place in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah reigns in his stead.

Amon was also buried in the tomb in the garden that Uzza [had made]. Then Amon’s son Josiah became the king.