2 Kings 21

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

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.

2 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].

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 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.

For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he built altars for Baal, made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he bowed down to all the stars of heaven and worshiped them.

4 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.”

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

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

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

6 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.

He caused his son to pass through the fire, he performed sorcery and divination and consulted with those who talked with the dead and with those who talked with spirits. He did much evil in the sight of Yahweh, provoking him to anger.

7 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.

The carved figure of Asherah that he had made, he placed it in the house of Yahweh. It was about this house that Yahweh 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 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.”

I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land that I gave to their ancestors, if they will only be careful to obey all that I have commanded them, and to follow all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.”

9 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.

But the people did not listen, and Manasseh led them to do evil even more than the nations that Yahweh had destroyed before the people of Israel.

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

So Yahweh spoke by his servants the prophets, saying,

11 “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.

“Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these disgusting things, and has acted wickedly more than all that the Amorites who were before him did, and has also made Judah sin with his idols,

12 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].

therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this: Look, I am about to bring such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle.

13 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].

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

14 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.

I will throw off the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hand of their enemies. They will become victims and plunder for all their enemies,

15 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.”

because they have done what is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their ancestors came out of Egypt, to this day.”

16 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].

Moreover, Manasseh shed much innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another with death. This was in addition to the sin by which he made Judah to sin, when they did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh.

17 [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’.

As for the other matters concerning Manasseh, all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Judah?

18 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.

Manasseh slept with his ancestors and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Amon his son became king in his place.

19 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.

Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth; she was the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

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

He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as Manasseh his father had done.

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

Amon followed in all the way that his father had walked in and worshiped the idols that his father worshiped, and bowed down to them.

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

He abandoned Yahweh, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of Yahweh.

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

The servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his own house.

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

25 [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’.

As for the other matters concerning Amon that he did, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Judah?

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

The people buried him in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son became king in his place.