2 Kings 21:1–7

Manasseh Reigns in Judah

21Manasseh ^awas twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. ²And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^baccording to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. ³For he rebuilt the ¹high places ^cwhich Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a ²wooden image, ^das Ahab king of Israel had done; and he ^eworshiped all ³the host of heaven and served them. ^4fHe also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ^g“In Jerusalem I will put My name.” ⁵And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the ^htwo courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ⁱAlso he made his son pass through the fire, practiced ^jsoothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. ⁷He even set a carved image of ⁴Asherah that he had made, in the ⁵house of which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon his son, ^k“In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;