2 Kings — Chapter 21

1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzi-bah.

2And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

3For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

4And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

6And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

7And he set a graven image of the grove 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 tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

8Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if 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.

9But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.

10And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying,

11Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:

12Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.

13And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.

14And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;

15Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.

16Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

17Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

18And 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 stead.

19Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

20And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did.

21And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:

22And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.

23And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.

24And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

25Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

26And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.

1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem: and his mother`s name was Hephzibah.

2And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel.

3For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

4And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, whereof Jehovah said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Jehovah.

6And he made his son to pass through the fire, and practised augury, and used enchantments, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.

7And he set the graven image of Asherah, that he had made, in the house of which Jehovah 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, will I put my name for ever;

8neither will I 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.

9But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of Israel.

10And Jehovah spake by his servants the prophets, saying,

11Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, that were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols;

12therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.

13And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

14And I will cast off the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;

15because they have done that which is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.

16Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah.

17Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

18And 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 stead.

19Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: and his mother`s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

20And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, as did Manasseh his father.

21And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:

22and he forsook Jehovah, the God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of Jehovah.

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

24But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

25Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

26And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.

1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother was Hephzibah.

2He did evil in the sight of the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites.

3He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just as King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky and worshiped them.

4He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my home.”

5In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky.

6He passed his son through the fire and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it. He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.

7He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.

8I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors, provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law my servant Moses ordered them to obey.”

9But they did not obey, and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Israelites.

10So the Lord announced through his servants the prophets:

11“King Manasseh of Judah has committed horrible sins. He has sinned more than the Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by worshiping his disgusting idols.

12So this is what the Lord God of Israel has said, ‘I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it.

13I will destroy Jerusalem the same way I did Samaria and the dynasty of Ahab. I will wipe Jerusalem clean, just as one wipes a plate on both sides.

14I will abandon this last remaining tribe among my people and hand them over to their enemies; they will be plundered and robbed by all their enemies,

15because they have done evil in my sight and have angered me from the time their ancestors left Egypt right up to this very day!’”

16Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with their blood from end to end, in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord.

17The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign and all his accomplishments, as well as the sinful acts he committed, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.

18Manasseh passed away and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzzah, and his son Amon replaced him as king.

19Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. His mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah.

20He did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done.

21He followed in the footsteps of his father and worshiped and bowed down to the disgusting idols that his father had worshiped.

22He abandoned the Lord, God of his ancestors, and did not follow the Lord’s instructions.

23Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed the king in his palace.

24The people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.

25The rest of Amon’s accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.

26He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzzah, and his son Josiah replaced him as king.

1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.

2He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, after the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out before the children of Israel.

3For 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 worshiped all the army of the sky, and served them.

4He built altars in Yahweh’s house, of which Yahweh said, “I will put my name in Jerusalem.”

5He built altars for all the army of the sky in the two courts of Yahweh’s house.

6He made his son to pass through the fire, practiced sorcery, used enchantments, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards. He did much evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger.

7He set the engraved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which Yahweh 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, will I put my name forever;

8I 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.”

9But they didn’t listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than the nations did whom Yahweh destroyed before the children of Israel.

10Yahweh spoke by his servants the prophets, saying,

11“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;

12therefore Yahweh the God of Israel says, ‘Behold, I bring such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle.

13I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of Ahab’s house; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

14I 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,

15because 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.’”

16Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight.

17Now 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?

18Manasseh 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.

19Amon 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.

20He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, as Manasseh his father did.

21He walked in all the ways that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them;

22and he abandoned Yahweh, the God of his fathers, and didn’t walk in the way of Yahweh.

23The servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house.

24But 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.

25Now 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?

26He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.