2 Chronicles 33

1 A son of twelve years is Manasseh in his reigning, and fifty and five years he hath reigned in Jerusalem;

Manasseh was twelve when he became king, and he reigned in for Jerusalem fifty-five years.

2 and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, like the abominations of the nations that Jehovah dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel,

He did evil in the Lord's sight by following the disgusting religious practices of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

3 and he turneth and buildeth the high places that Hezekiah his father hath broken down, and raiseth altars for Baalim, and maketh shrines, and boweth himself to all the host of the heavens, and serveth them.

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he made altars for the Baals and set up Asherah poles. He worshiped the sun, moon, and stars and served them.

4 And he hath built altars in the house of Jehovah of which Jehovah had said, 'In Jerusalem is My name to the age.'

He built altars in the Lord's Temple, about which the Lord had said, “I shall be honored in Jerusalem forever.”

5 And he buildeth altars to all the host of the heavens in the two courts of the house of Jehovah.

He built these altars to worship the sun, moon, and stars in both courtyards of the Lord's Temple.

6 And he hath caused his sons to pass over through fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and observed clouds and used enchantments and witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and a wizard; he hath multiplied to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.

He sacrificed his children by burning them to death in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and visited mediums and spiritists. He did a great deal of evil in the Lord's sight, making him angry.

7 And he placeth the graven image of the idol that he made in the house of God, of which God said unto David, and unto Solomon his son, 'In this house, and in Jerusalem that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I put My name to the age,

He took a pagan idol he had made and set it up in God's Temple, about which God had told David and his son Solomon, “I will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel.

8 and I add not to turn aside the foot of Israel from off the ground that I appointed to your fathers, only, if they watch to do all that I have commanded them — to all the law, and the statutes, and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.'

If the Israelites are careful to follow everything I have instructed them to do—all the laws, commandments, and regulations, given through Moses—then I will not make them leave the land I granted your forefathers.”

9 And Manasseh maketh Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, to do evil above the nations that Jehovah destroyed from the presence of the sons of Israel.

But Manasseh seduced Judah and the people of Jerusalem, leading them to commit even worse sins than the nations the Lord had destroyed before Israelites.

10 And Jehovah speaketh unto Manasseh and unto his people, and they have not attended,

The Lord warned Manasseh and his people, but they ignored him.

11 and Jehovah bringeth in against them the heads of the host that the king of Asshur hath, and they capture Manasseh among the thickets, and bind him with brazen fetters, and cause him to go to Babylon.

So the Lord sent the armies of Assyria with their commanders to attack them. The Assyrians captured Manasseh, put a hook through his nose, put bronze shackles on him, and took him away to Babylon.

12 And when he is in distress he hath appeased the face of Jehovah his God, and is humbled exceedingly before the God of his fathers,

In his misery, asked the Lord God for help, repenting for his arrogance before the God of his forefathers.

13 and prayeth unto Him, and He is entreated of him, and heareth his supplication, and bringeth him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom, and Manasseh knoweth that Jehovah — He [is] God.

He prayed and prayed, and the Lord listened to his pleadings, so the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh was convinced that the Lord is God.

14 And after this he hath built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west of Gihon, in the valley, and at the entering in at the fish-gate, and it hath gone round to the tower, and he maketh it exceeding high, and he putteth heads of the force in all the cities of the bulwarks in Judah.

After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the Fish Gate, and around the hill of Ophel, and made it much higher. He also assigned army commanders to all the fortified towns of Judah.

15 And he turneth aside the gods of the stranger, and the idol, out of the house of Jehovah, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of Jehovah and in Jerusalem, and casteth [them] to the outside of the city.

He disposed of the foreign gods and the idol from the Lord's Temple, together with all the altars he had built on the Temple hill and in Jerusalem, throwing all of them outside the city.

16 And he buildeth the altar of Jehovah, and sacrificeth upon it sacrifices of peace-offerings and thank-offering, and saith to Judah to serve Jehovah, God of Israel;

Then he restored the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed friendship offerings and thank offerings on it, and he instructed Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.

17 but still the people are sacrificing in high places, only — to Jehovah their God.

But the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

18 And the rest of the matters of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the matters of the seers, those speaking unto him in the name of Jehovah, God of Israel, lo, they are [on the book of] the matters of the kings of Israel;

The rest of what Manasseh did, along with his prayer to his God and what he was told by the seers who spoke on the Lord's behalf are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

19 and his prayer, and his entreaty, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places in which he had built high places, and established the shrines and the graven images before his being humbled, lo, they are written beside the matters of Hozai.

His prayer and how God answered him, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, and where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he admitted he was wrong, are recorded in the Records of the Seers.

20 And Manasseh lieth with his fathers, and they bury him in his own house, and reign doth Amon his son in his stead.

Manasseh died and was buried at his palace. His son Amon took over as king.

21 A son of twenty and two years [is] Amon in his reigning, and two years he hath reigned in Jerusalem,

Amon was twenty-two when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for two years.

22 and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, as did Manasseh his father, and to all the graven images that Manasseh his father had made hath Amon sacrificed, and serveth them,

He did evil in the Lord's sight just as his father Manasseh had. Amon worshiped and sacrificed to all the idols his father Manasseh had made.

23 and hath not been humbled before Jehovah, like the humbling of Manasseh his father, for Amon himself hath multiplied guilt.

However, he did not admit his pride before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done—in fact Amon made his guilt even worse.

24 And his servants conspire against him, and put him to death in his own house,

Then Amon's officials plotted against him and killed him in his palace.

25 and the people of the land smite all those conspiring against king Amon, and the people of the land cause Josiah his son to reign in his stead.

But the people of the land killed everyone who had plotted against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king.