2 Chronicles 33

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

Twelve years old, was Manasseh when he began to reign, —and, fifty-five years, reigned he in Jerusalem.

2 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.

And he did the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, -according to the abominable ways of the nations, whom Yahweh dispossessed from before the sons of Israel.

3 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.

And he again built the high places, which Hezekiah his father had thrown down, —and set up altars to the Baalim, and made Sacred Stems, and bowed in prostration unto all the army of the heavens, and served them;

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

and built altars in the house of Yahweh, —as to which Yahweh had said, In Jerusalem, shall be my Name, unto times age-abiding.

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

Yea he built altars unto all the army of the heavens, —in the two courts of the house of Yahweh.

6 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.

And, he, caused his sons to pass through the fire, in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and practised hidden arts and used divination, and practised sorcery, and appointed a necromancer, and a wizard, —he exceeded in doing the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger;

7 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.

and he set a resemblance-image which he had made, —in the house of God, as to which God had said unto David, and unto 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, unto times age-abiding.

8 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.”

So will I not again remove the foot of Israel away from the soil which I appointed for their fathers. Only they must observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law and the statutes and the regulations, by the hand of Moses.

9 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.

And so Manasseh led astray Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, —to commit wickedness beyond the nations which Yahweh had destroyed from before the sons of Israel.

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

And Yahweh spake unto Manasseh and unto his people, but they did not give ear.

11 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.

So Yahweh brought in upon them, the captains of the army that belonged to the king of Assyria, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, —and bound him captive with a pair of bronze fetters, and took him away to Babylon.

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

But, in his distress, he appeased the face of Yahweh his God, —and humbled himself greatly, before the God of his fathers;

13 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.

and, when he prayed unto him, then was he entreated of him, and hearkened unto his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem, unto his own kingdom, and so Manasseh came to know, that, Yahweh, is God.

14 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.

And, after this, he built an outer wall to the city of David on the west of the Gihon in the ravine, even to the entering in through the fish-gate, and went round to Ophel, and carried it up very high, —and put captains of valour in all the fortified cities, throughout Judah.

15 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.

And he removed the gods of the foreigner and the image, out of the house of Yahweh, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of the house of Yahweh, and in Jerusalem, —and he cast them forth outside the city.

16 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.

And he built the altar of Yahweh, and sacrificed thereon peace-offerings, and thanksgiving sacrifices, -and gave word to Judah to serve Yahweh, God of Israel.

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

Howbeit, still were, the people, sacrificing in the high places, —only unto Yahweh their God.

18 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.

But, the rest of the story of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the story of the seers who spake unto him in the name of Yahweh God of Israel, there they are, in the story of the kings of Israel:

19 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.

both his prayer and how [God] was entreated of him—and all his sin and his treacherous act, and the sites whereon he built high places, and set up the Sacred Stems and the images, before he humbled himself, there they are, written in the story of the seers.

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

And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the garden off his own house, —and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

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

Twenty-two years old, was Amon when he began to reign, —and, two years, reigned he in Jerusalem.

22 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.

And he did the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, as Manasseh his father had done, —and, unto all the images which Manasseh his father had made, Amon offered sacrifice, and did serve them.

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

But he did not humble himself before Yahweh as Manasseh his father humbled himself, —for, he, Amon, made guilt abound.

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

And his servants conspired against him, and put him to death, in his own house.

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

But the people of the land smote all the conspirators against King Amon, —and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.