2 Kings 21

1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to rule. He ruled Judah for 55 years from Jerusalem. His mother was Hephzibah.

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

2 He did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil. He imitated the disgusting things that were formerly done by the people of the nations that Yahweh had expelled from the land of Israel as his people advanced [through the land].

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 He commanded his workers to rebuild the shrines [for worshiping Yahweh] that his father Hezekiah had destroyed [because they were not in the place that Yahweh had said they should worship him]. He directed his workers to build altars for worshiping Baal. He made [a statue of the goddess] Asherah, like Ahab the king of Israel had done [previously]. And Manasseh worshiped [DOU] the stars.

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 He directed his workers to build altars [for worshiping foreign gods] in the temple of Yahweh, about which Yahweh had said, “It is here in Jerusalem where I want people to worship [MTY] me, forever.”

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 He directed that altars for worshiping the stars be built in both of the courtyards outside the temple.

He set up altars to worship the sun, moon, and stars in the two courtyards of the Lord's Temple.

6 He even sacrificed his own son by burning [him in a fire]. He performed rituals to practice sorcery and magic rituals. He also went to people who consulted the spirits of dead people to find out what would happen in the future. He did many things that Yahweh considered to be extremely evil, things that caused Yahweh to become very angry.

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 He placed the statue of the goddess Asherah in the temple, the place about which Yahweh had said to David and his son Solomon, “My temple will be here in Jerusalem. This is the city that I have chosen from all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel, where I want people to worship me, forever.

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 if the Israeli people obey all my commands and all the laws that I gave to Moses, the man who served me [very well], I will not again force them to leave this land that I gave to their ancestors.”

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 But the people did not heed Yahweh. And Manasseh persuaded them to commit sins that are more evil than the sins that were committed by the people of the nations that Yahweh had expelled from the land as the Israeli people advanced.

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 [These are some of the things that] the prophets said many times, messages that Yahweh had given them:

The Lord said through his servants the prophets:

11 “Manasseh, the king of Judah, has done these abominable things, things that are much worse than the things that the Amor people-group did in this land long ago. He has persuaded the people of Judah to sin by [worshiping] 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, this is what I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israeli people worship, say: I will the cause the people of Jerusalem and the rest of Judah to experience great disasters. It will be terrible, with the result that everyone who hears about it will be stunned [MTY].

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 I will judge and punish [MET] the people of Jerusalem like I punished the family of King Ahab [of Israel]. I will (wipe Jerusalem clean/remove all the people from Jerusalem), like [MET] people wipe a plate and then turn it upside down [after they have finished eating, to show that they are now satisfied].

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 will abandon the people who remain alive, and I will allow their enemies to conquer them and steal everything valuable from their land.

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 I will do this because my people have done things that I consider to be very evil, things which have caused me to become very angry. They have caused me to become angry continually, ever since their ancestors left Egypt.”

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 Manasseh [commanded his officials to] kill many innocent people in Jerusalem, with the result that their blood flowed in the streets. He did this in addition to persuading the people of Judah to sin against Yahweh [by worshiping idols].

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 [If you want to know more about] all the things that Manasseh did, they are written in the scroll called ‘The History 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 Manasseh died [EUP] and was buried in the garden outside his palace, the garden that Uzza [had made]. Then Manasseh’s son Amon became the king.

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

19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He ruled Judah from Jerusalem for [only] two years. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth. She was from Jotbah [town], and was the granddaughter of Haruz.

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 Amon did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil, like his father Manasseh had done.

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

21 He imitated the behavior of his father, and he worshiped the same idols that his father had worshiped [DOU].

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

22 He abandoned Yahweh, the God whom his ancestors [had worshiped], and did not behave as Yahweh wanted him to.

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

23 Then one day some of his officials plotted to kill him. They assassinated him in the palace.

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

24 But then the people of Judah killed all those who had assassinated King Amon, and they appointed his son Josiah to be their king.

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 [If you want to read about] [RHQ] the other things that Amon did, they are written in the scroll called ‘The History 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 Amon was also buried in the tomb in the garden that Uzza [had made]. Then Amon’s son Josiah became the king.

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