The Reign of Manasseh

33 Manasseh ⌊was twelve years old⌋a when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh according to the detestable things of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the ⌊Israelites⌋.b 3 And ⌊he rebuilt⌋c the high places that Hezekiah his father broke down, and he set up altars for the Baals, made Asherahs, and bowed down to the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh had said, “In Jerusalem my name shall be forever.” 5 And he built altars to all the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of Yahweh. 6 And he himself burned his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. And he practiced sorcery and divination, and he engaged in witchcraft and dealt with mediums and spiritists. And he did much evil in the eyes of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger. 7 And he placed the carved image of the idol that he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. 8 And I will ⌊never⌋d remove the foot of Israel from upon the land that I appointed to your ancestors,e if only you will take care to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the regulations, and the judgments by the hand of Moses.” 9 And Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do evil more than the nations that Yahweh destroyed before the ⌊Israelites⌋.f