2 Imilando 33
1 UManase wayeleminyaka elitshumi lambili esiba yinkosi; wasebusa iminyaka engamatshumi amahlanu lanhlanu eJerusalema.
Manasseh was 12 years old when he became the king [of Judah], and he ruled from Jerusalem for 55 years.
2 Kodwa wenza okubi emehlweni eNkosi, njengamanyala ezizwe iNkosi eyazixotsha elifeni phambi kwabantwana bakoIsrayeli.
He did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil. He imitated the disgusting things that were formerly done by the people-groups that Yahweh had expelled from Israel as his people advanced [though the land].
3 Ngoba wabuya wakha indawo eziphakemeyo uyise uHezekhiya ayezidilizile, wamisela oBhali amalathi, wenza izixuku, wakhothamela ibutho lonke lamazulu, walikhonza.
He commanded his workers to rebuild the shrines [for worshiping idols] that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He told them to set up altars to [honor] the statues of Baal, and to make altars to [honor the goddess] Asherah. He bowed down to [worship] all the stars.
4 Wasesakha amalathi endlini yeNkosi, iNkosi eyayithe ngayo: EJerusalema ibizo lami lizakuba khona phakade.
He directed his workers to build altars [for foreign gods] in the temple, about which Yahweh had said, “It is here in Jerusalem that I want people to worship me, forever.”
5 Wasesakhela ibutho lonke lamazulu amalathi emagumeni womabili endlu yeNkosi.
He directed that altars for [worshiping] all the stars be built in both of the courtyards outside the temple.
6 Yena wenza abantwana bakhe badabule emlilweni esihotsheni sendodana kaHinomu; wasechasisa izibonakaliso, wenza imilingo, wenza ubuthakathi, wasebenza labalamadlozi labalumbayo. Wenza okubi kakhulu emehlweni eNkosi, ukuyithukuthelisa.
He even sacrificed [some of] his own sons and burned them in a fire in Hinnom Valley. He performed rituals to practice sorcery. He asked fortune-tellers for advice. He performed witchcraft. He talked to people who consulted the spirits of people who had died to find out what would happen in the future. He did many things that Yahweh considered o be very evil, things that caused Yahweh to become very angry.
7 Wasebeka isifanekiso esibaziweyo sesithombe ayesenzile endlini kaNkulunkulu, uNkulunkulu owayethe ngayo kuDavida lakuSolomoni indodana yakhe: Kulindlu, leJerusalema engiyikhethe kuzo zonke izizwe zakoIsrayeli, ngizabeka ibizo lami kuze kube nininini.
Manasseh took a carved idol [that his workers had made] and put it in the temple. That is the temple concerning which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “My temple will be here in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen [where I want people to] worship me, forever.
8 Kangisayikususa unyawo lukaIsrayeli luphume elizweni engalimisela oyihlo, kuphela uba bezananzelela ukwenza konke engibalaya khona, ngokomlayo wonke lezimiso lezimiselo ngesandla sikaMozisi.
If they will obey all the laws and decrees and regulations that I told Moses to give to them, I will not again force the Israeli people to leave this land that I gave to their ancestors.”
9 Ngakho uManase waduhisa uJuda labahlali beJerusalema, ukwenza okubi okwedlula izizwe iNkosi eyazichitha phambi kwabantwana bakoIsrayeli.
But Manasseh led the people of Jerusalem and other places in Judah to do things that are wrong, with the result that they did more evil than was done by the people in the people-groups that Yahweh had expelled as the Israeli people advanced [through the land].
10 INkosi yasikhuluma kuManase lebantwini bakhe, kodwa kabalalelanga.
Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and the people of Judah, but they paid no attention.
11 Ngakho iNkosi yabehlisela abaphathi bebutho inkosi yeAsiriya eyayilabo; basebethumba uManase ngameva, bambopha ngamaketane ethusi, bamusa eBhabhiloni.
So Yahweh caused the army commanders of Assyria [and their soldiers] to [come to Jerusalem, and they] captured Manasseh. They put a hook in his nose and put bronze chains on his [feet] and took him to Babylon.
12 Kwathi esecindezelwe wancenga ubuso beNkosi uNkulunkulu wakhe, wazithoba kakhulu phambi kukaNkulunkulu waboyise.
There, while he was suffering, he humbled himself greatly in the presence of Yahweh, the God whom his ancestors [worshiped], and pleaded with Yahweh to help him.
13 Wasekhuleka kuye, njalo wancengeka ngaye, wezwa ukuncenga kwakhe, wambuyisela eJerusalema embusweni wakhe. Ngakho uManase wazi ukuthi iNkosi yiyo enguNkulunkulu.
When he prayed, Yahweh heard him and pitied him. So he [allowed him to] return to Jerusalem and [to] rule his kingdom again. Then Manasseh realized that Yahweh is [an all-powerful] God.
14 Lemva kwalokho wakha umduli ongaphandle komuzi kaDavida ngentshonalanga kweGihoni esihotsheni, kwaze kwaba sekungeneni kwesango lenhlanzi, wabhoda iOfeli, wawenza waphakama kakhulu. Wabeka labaphathi bamabutho kuyo yonke imizi ebiyelweyo koJuda.
Later, Manasseh’s [workers] rebuilt the eastern section of the outer wall around Jerusalem, and [they] made it higher. That section extended from Gihon Spring [north] to the Fish Gate, and around the part of the city that they called Ophel [Hill]. Manasseh also appointed army officers to guard each of the cities in Judah that had walls around them.
15 Wasesusa onkulunkulu bezizweni lesithombe endlini yeNkosi, lawo wonke amalathi ayewakhile entabeni yendlu yeNkosi, laseJerusalema, wakuphosela ngaphandle komuzi.
Manasseh’s [workers] removed from the temple the idols and the stone statues of gods of other nations. Manasseh also [told them to] remove the altars that they had previously built on Zion Hill and in [other places in] Jerusalem. He had all those things thrown out of the city.
16 Wasesakha ilathi leNkosi, wahlabela phezu kwalo iminikelo yokuthula leminikelo yokubonga. Wathi kuJuda kakhonze iNkosi, uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli.
Then he [told them to] repair the altar of Yahweh, and he offered sacrifices to restore fellowship with Yahweh and to thank him. And he told [the people of] Judah that they must worship [only] Yahweh.
17 Loba kunjalo abantu babelokhu behlaba endaweni eziphakemeyo, kuphela eNkosini uNkulunkulu wabo.
The people continued to offer sacrifices on the hilltops, but only to Yahweh their God.
18 Ezinye-ke zezindaba zikaManase, lomkhuleko wakhe kuNkulunkulu wakhe, lamazwi ababoni abawakhuluma kuye ngebizo leNkosi uNkulunkulu kaIsrayeli, khangela, kusezindabeni zamakhosi akoIsrayeli.
The other things that happened while Manasseh was ruling, including his prayer to God and the messages from Yahweh that the prophets gave to him, are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.
19 Umkhuleko wakhe-ke, lokuncenga kwakhe kuNkulunkulu, lesono sakhe sonke, lesiphambeko sakhe, lezindawo akha kuzo indawo eziphakemeyo, njalo wamisa izixuku lezithombe ezibaziweyo, engakazithobi, khangela, kubhaliwe emazwini ababoni.
What Manasseh prayed and how God pitied him because he pleaded to God, and also his sins and ways in which he disobeyed God, and the [list of] places where he built shrines and set up poles to [honor the goddess] Asherah and other idols [before he humbled himself], are written in what the prophets wrote.
20 UManase waselala laboyise; basebemngcwaba endlini yakhe. UAmoni indodana yakhe wasesiba yinkosi esikhundleni sakhe.
Manasseh died and was buried in his palace. Then his son Amon became the king [of Judah].
21 UAmoni wayeleminyaka engamatshumi amabili lambili esiba yinkosi; wasebusa iminyaka emibili eJerusalema.
Amon was 22 years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for two years.
22 Wasesenza okubi emehlweni eNkosi njengokwenza kukaManase uyise; ngoba uAmoni wahlabela zonke izithombe ezibaziweyo uManase uyise ayezenzile, wazikhonza.
He did things that Yahweh considered to be evil, like his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped all the idols that Manasseh’s [workers] had made.
23 Kodwa kazithobanga phambi kweNkosi njengokuzithoba kukaManase uyise, kodwa uAmoni lo wandisa icala.
But he did not humble himself and turn to Yahweh like his father did. So he became more sinful than his father had been.
24 Inceku zakhe zasezimenzela ugobe, zambulala endlini yakhe.
Then Amon’s officials made plans to kill him. They assassinated him in his palace.
25 Kodwa abantu belizwe batshaya bonke labo ababenzele inkosi uAmoni ugobe; abantu belizwe basebebeka uJosiya indodana yakhe ukuba yinkosi esikhundleni sakhe.
But then the people of Judah killed all those who had assassinated Amon, and they appointed his son Josiah to be their king.
