2 Chronicles 33

1 Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

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

2 And he did evil before the Lord, according to all the abominations of the nations, which the Lord cast out before the children 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 turned, and built again the high places which Ezechias his father had destroyed: and he built altars to Baalim, and made groves, and he adored all the host of heaven, and worshipped 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 He built also altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said: In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

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

5 And he built them for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.

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

6 And he made his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of Benennom: he observed dreams, followed divinations, gave himself up to magic arts, had with him magicians, and enchanters: and he wrought many evils before the Lord, 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 He set also a graven, and a molten statue 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 out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever.

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 will not make the foot of Israel to be removed out of the land which I have delivered to their fathers: yet so if they will take heed to do what I hare commanded them, and all the law, and the ceremonies, and judgments 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 So Manasses seduced Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to do evil beyond all the nations, which the Lord had destroyed before the face of the children 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 the Lord spoke to him, and to his people, and they would not hearken.

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

11 Therefore he brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians: and they took Manasses, and carried him bound with chains and fetters 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 after that he was in distress he prayed to the Lord his God: and did penance 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 he entreated him, and besought him earnestly: and he heard his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom, and Manasses knew that the Lord was 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 After this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon in the valley, from the entering in of the fish gate round about to Ophel, and raised it up to a great height: and he appointed captains of the army in all the fenced cities of Juda:

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 took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord: the altars also which he had made in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and he cast them all out 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 repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed upon it victims, and peace offerings, and praise: and he commanded Juda to serve the Lord the 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 Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places to the Lord their God.

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

18 But the rest of the acts of Manasses, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the Lord the God of Israel, are contained in the words 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 His prayer also, and his being heard, and all his sins, and contempt, and places wherein he built high places, and set up groves, and statues before he did penance, are written in the words 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 Manasses slept with his fathers. and they buried him in his house: and his son Amen reigned in his stead.

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

21 Amen was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.

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

22 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasses his father had done: and he sacrificed to all the idols which Manasses his father had made, and served 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 he did not humble himself before the Lord, as Manasses his father had humbled himself, but committed far greater sins.

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 conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.

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

25 But the rest of the multitude of the people slew them that had killed Amen, and made Josias his son king in his stead.

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