Manasseh's Idolatrous Reign in Judah 1A son of twelve years is Manasseh in his reigning, and fifty and five years he hath reigned in Jerusalem; 2and 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, 3and 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. 4And he hath built altars in the house of Jehovah of which Jehovah had said, 'In Jerusalem is My name to the age.' 5And he buildeth altars to all the host of the heavens in the two courts of the house of Jehovah. 6And 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. 7And 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, 8and 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.' 9And 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. Manasseh's Repentance and Restoration 10And Jehovah speaketh unto Manasseh and unto his people, and they have not attended, 11and 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. 12And when he is in distress he hath appeased the face of Jehovah his God, and is humbled exceedingly before the God of his fathers, 13and 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. 14And 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. 15And 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. 16And 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; 17but still the people are sacrificing in high places, only -- to Jehovah their God. 18And 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; 19and 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. 20And Manasseh lieth with his fathers, and they bury him in his own house, and reign doth Amon his son in his stead. Amon's Evil Reign in Judah 21A son of twenty and two years is Amon in his reigning, and two years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, 22and 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, 23and hath not been humbled before Jehovah, like the humbling of Manasseh his father, for Amon himself hath multiplied guilt. 24And his servants conspire against him, and put him to death in his own house, 25and 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. |