2 Chronicles 33

Judah’s King Manasseh

33Manasseh was 12 years old ^jwhen he became king and reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. ²He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites. ^k3He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down ^land reestablished the altars for the Baals. He made Asherah poles, and he worshiped the whole heavenly host and served them. ⁴He built altars ^min the Lord’s temple, where Yahweh had said, “Jerusalem is where My name will remain forever.” ⁿ⁵He built altars to the whole heavenly host in both courtyards ^oof the Lord’s temple. ⁶He passed his sons through the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. ^pHe practiced witchcraft, divination, and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. ^qHe did a great deal of evil in the Lord’s sight, provoking Him.

⁷Manasseh ^rset up a carved image of the idol he had made, in God’s temple, ^sabout which God had said to David and his son Solomon, “I will establish My name forever ^tuin this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. ^v8I will never again remove the feet of the Israelites from the land where I stationed your ^wxancestors, ^yif only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them through Moses—all the law, statutes, and judgments.” ⁹So Manasseh caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to stray so that they did worse evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.

Manasseh’s Repentance

¹⁰The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they didn’t listen. ^z11So He brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria. They captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. ^a12When he was in distress, he sought the favor of Yahweh his God and earnestly humbled himself ^bbefore the God of his ancestors. ¹³He prayed to Him, so He heard his petition and granted his request, ^cand brought him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom. So Manasseh came to know that Yahweh is God. ^d

¹⁴After this, he built the outer wall of the city of David from west of Gihon ^ein the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate; ^fhe brought it around the Ophel, ^gand he heightened it considerably. He also placed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

¹⁵He removed the foreign gods and the idol ^hfrom the Lord’s temple, along with all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the Lord’s temple and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. ¹⁶He built ⁱthe altar of the Lord and offered fellowship and thank offerings on it. Then he told Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹⁷However, the people still sacrificed at the high places, ^jbut only to Yahweh their God.

Manasseh’s Death

¹⁸The rest of the events ^kof Manasseh’s reign, along with his prayer ^lto his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, are written in the Records of Israel’s Kings. ¹⁹His prayer and how God granted his request, and all his sin and unfaithfulness and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and carved images before he humbled himself, they are written in the Records of Hozai. ²⁰Manasseh rested with his fathers, and he was buried in his own house. His son Amon became king in his place.

Judah’s King Amon

²¹Amon was 22 years old when he became king and reigned two years in Jerusalem. ²²He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as his father Manasseh had done. ^mAmon sacrificed to all the carved images that his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. ²³But he did not humble himself before the Lord like his father Manasseh humbled himself; ⁿinstead, Amon increased his guilt.

²⁴So his servants conspired against him and put him to death ^oin his own house. ²⁵Then the common people ^pexecuted all those who conspired against King Amon and made his son Josiah king in his place.