2 Kings, 21

1. Manasseh [was] twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name [was] Hephzibah.

1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began his reign, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.

2. And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

2. He treated Yahweh very badly, imitating the wretched practices of the people Yahweh had driven out from the land in order to give it to the Israelites.

3. For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

3. He rebuilt the sanctuaries on the hills, which had been destroyed by Hezekiah his father. He built altars to the god Baal and made a sacred pillar similar to the one Ahab, king of Israel, had made. He knelt before all the stars of heaven and worshiped them.

4. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

4. He built altars in the courtyard of the House of Yahweh, about which Yahweh had said, "Jerusalem shall be the dwelling place of my Name."

5. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

5. He built altars for all the stars of heaven in the two courtyards of the House of Yahweh.

6. And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke [him] to anger.

6. He sacrificed his son by fire. He practiced soothsaying and magic, he brought in seers and wizards, doing without ceasing what Yahweh condemned, and thus provoking his anger.

7. And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

7. He even put up the sacred pillar of the goddess Asherah in the House of Yahweh in spite of what Yahweh had said to David and to his son, Solomon: "I shall let my Name rest forever in this House, for I have chosen Jerusalem from among all the tribes of Israel.

8. Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.

8. I shall no longer let Israel wander out of the land I gave to their fathers, provided that you try to live according to all the Law I gave you through my servant Moses."

9. But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.

9. But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them into doing things worse than those nations had done whom Yahweh had expelled before the Israelites.

10. And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying,

10. So Yahweh spoke through the mouth of his servants, the prophets, saying,

11. Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, [and] hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which [were] before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:

11. "Manasseh, king of Judah, has multiplied the wretched practices and has acted worse than the Amorites. He has made the people of Judah sin with his repugnant images.

12. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I [am] bringing [such] evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.

12. Therefore, I shall bring upon Jerusalem and upon Judah an evil so great that the ears of those who hear of it shall buzz.

13. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as [a man] wipeth a dish, wiping [it], and turning [it] upside down.

13. Jerusalem and its kings shall suffer the fate of Samaria and of the family of Ahab. I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a plate to clean it, and then turns it upside down.

14. And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;

14. I shall drive away the rest of my people and give them over into the hands of their enemies so that they shall become their prey and booty.

15. Because they have done [that which was] evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.

15. For they did what displeased me and made me angry from the day when their fathers came out of Egypt to this day."

16. Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD.

16. Manasseh also shed innocent blood in such quantity that it filled up Jerusalem from one end to the other, besides the sins which he made Judah commit, doing what is wrong in the sight of Yahweh.

17. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

17. The rest regarding Manasseh, all that he did and the sins he committed, is written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

18. And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

18. When Manasseh died, they buried him in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon reigned in his place.

19. Amon [was] twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name [was] Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

19. Amon was twenty-two years old when he began his reign, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem; his mother's name was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz, of the city of Jotbah.

20. And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did.

20. He treated Yahweh badly, as his father Manasseh had done.

21. And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:

21. He completely followed in the footsteps of his father - he served the idols his father had served and bowed down before them.

22. And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.

22. He abandoned Yahweh, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of Yahweh.

23. And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.

23. The officials of Amon conspired against him, and murdered him in his house.

24. And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

24. But the citizens killed all who had plotted against the king, and they proclaimed his son Josiah king in his place.

25. Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

25. The rest regarding Amon and all that he did is written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

26. And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.

26. They buried him in his tomb, in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah reigned in his place.