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, and 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 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 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 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 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.”

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

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 army of the sky in the two courts of the LORD’s house.

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 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 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.

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

The LORD 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 [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’.

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 [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 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 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; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth 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 that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, as Manasseh his father did.

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

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

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

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

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 the people of the land 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’.

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

He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.