2 Kings 21

1 A son of twelve years [is] Manasseh in his reigning, and fifty and five years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Hephzi-Bah;

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

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

He did what was evil in the Lord's sight by following the disgusting pagan 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 destroyed, and raiseth altars for Baal, and maketh a shrine, as did Ahab king of Israel, and boweth himself to all the host of the heavens, and serveth them.

He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal. He made an Asherah idol pole, just as Ahab, king of Israel, had done, and he worshiped and served the sun, moon, and stars.

4 And he hath built altars in the house of Jehovah, of which Jehovah said, 'In Jerusalem I put My name.'

He set up pagan altars in the Lord's Temple, right where the Lord had said, “I will place my name 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 set up altars to worship the sun, moon, and stars in the two courtyards of the Lord's Temple.

6 and he hath caused his son to pass through fire, and observed clouds, and used enchantment, and dealt with a familiar spirit and wizards; he hath multiplied to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah — to provoke to anger.

He even he sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering, and used fortune-telling and witchcraft, and he dealt with mediums and with spiritists. He did a great deal of evil in the Lord's sight, making the Lord angry.

7 And he setteth the graven image of the shrine that he made in the house of which Jehovah 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 the Asherah idol pole he had made and placed in the Temple. This was the place referred to by the Lord when he told David and Solomon, his son, “In this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name forever.

8 and I do not add to cause the foot of Israel to move from the ground that I gave to their fathers, only, if they observe to do according to all that I commanded them, and to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.'

I will never again make the Israelites wander from the land I gave their forefathers if they are careful to follow everything I have ordered them to do—the whole law that my servant Moses gave them.”

9 And they have not hearkened, and Manasseh causeth them to err, to do the evil thing above the nations that Jehovah destroyed from the presence of the sons of Israel.

The people refused to listen and Manasseh led them to sin so that the evil they did was even worse than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.

10 And Jehovah speaketh by the hand of his servants the prophets, saying,

The Lord said through his servants the prophets:

11 'Because that Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations — he hath done evil above all that the Amorites have done who [are] before him, and causeth also Judah to sin by his idols;

“Since Manasseh, king of Judah, has committed all these disgusting sins, doing even more evil things than the Amorites who lived before him, and by his encouragement of idol worship has made Judah sin,

12 therefore thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Lo, I am bringing in evil on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever heareth of it, tingle do his two ears.

this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Watch out! I am going to bring down upon Jerusalem and Judah such a disaster that it will cause ringing in the ears of everyone who hears it.

13 And I have stretched out over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and wiped Jerusalem as one wipeth the dish — he hath wiped, and hath turned [it] on its face.

I will extend over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe away Jerusalem as people wipe clean a bowl, wiping it and turning it upside down.

14 'And I have left the remnant of Mine inheritance, and given them into the hand of their enemies, and they have been for a prey and for a spoil to all their enemies,

I will give up on the remnant of my special people and hand them over to their enemies. They will be plunder and loot to all their enemies,

15 because that they have done the evil thing in Mine eyes, and are provoking Me to anger from the day that their fathers came out of Egypt, even unto this day.'

because they have done what is evil in my sight, and have made me angry from the day their fathers left Egypt until today.”

16 And also, innocent blood hath Manasseh shed very much, till that he hath filled Jerusalem — mouth to mouth; apart from his sin that he hath caused Judah to sin, to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah.

On top of that, Manasseh murdered so many innocent people that Jerusalem was filled from one side to the other with their blood. This was in addition to the sin that he had made Judah commit, doing evil in the Lord's sight.

17 And the rest of the matters of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?

The rest of what happened in Manasseh's reign, all he did, as well as the sins he committed, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

18 And Manasseh lieth with his fathers, and is buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, and reign doth Amon his son in his stead.

Manasseh died, and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. His son Amon succeeded him as king.

19 A son of twenty and two years [is] Amon in his reigning, and two years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz of Jotbah,

Amon was twenty-two when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for two years. His mother's name was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz. She came from Jotbah.

20 and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, as did Manasseh his father,

He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, just as his father Manasseh had done.

21 and walketh in all the way that his father walked in, and serveth the idols that his father served, and boweth himself to them,

He followed all the ways of his father, and he served the idols his father had served, bowing down in worship to them.

22 and forsaketh Jehovah, God of his fathers, and hath not walked in the way of Jehovah.

He rejected the Lord, the God of his forefathers, and did not follow the way of the Lord.

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

Amon's officials plotted against him and murdered him in his royal palace.

24 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 then the people of the land killed everyone who had plotted against King Amon, and they chose his son Josiah king to succeed him.

25 And the rest of the matters of Amon that he did, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?

The rest of what happened in Amon's reign, and all he did, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

26 and [one] burieth him in his burying-place in the garden of Uzza, and reign doth Josiah his son in his stead.

He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah succeeded him as king.