2 Chronicles, 33

1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

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

2. He did what is displeasing to Yahweh, copying the disgusting practices of the nations whom Yahweh had dispossessed for the Israelites.

2. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

3. He rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had demolished, he set up altars to Baal and made sacred poles, he worshipped the whole array of heaven and served it.

3. For he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezeki'ah had broken down, and erected altars to the Ba'als, and made Ashe'rahs, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them.

4. He built altars in the Temple of Yahweh, of which Yahweh had said, 'My name will be in Jerusalem for ever.'

4. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever."

5. He built altars to the whole array of heaven in the two courts of the Temple of Yahweh.

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

6. He caused his sons to pass through the fire of sacrifice in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. He practised soothsaying, divination and sorcery, and had dealings with mediums and spirit-guides. He did very many more things displeasing to Yahweh, thus provoking his anger.

6. And he burned his sons as an offering in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and practiced soothsaying and augury and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

7. He put a sculpted image, an idol which he had had made, inside the Temple of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, 'In this Temple and in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I shall put my name for ever.

7. And the image of the idol which he had made he set in the house of God, of which God 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, I will put my name for ever;

8. Nor shall I ever again remove Israel's foot from the soil on which I established your ancestors on condition that they were careful to observe all I commanded them as laid down in the whole Law, the statutes and the ordinances, given through Moses.'

8. and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land which I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses."

9. But Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into doing worse things than the nations which Yahweh had destroyed for the Israelites.

9. Manas'seh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

10. When Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and his people, they would not listen.

10. The LORD spoke to Manas'seh and to his people, but they gave no heed.

11. Yahweh then brought down on them the generals of the king of Assyria's army who captured Manasseh with hooks, put him in chains and took him to Babylon.

11. Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manas'seh with hooks and bound him with fetters of bronze and brought him to Babylon.

12. While in his distress, he placated Yahweh his God by genuinely humbling himself before the God of his ancestors.

12. And when he was in distress he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

13. When he prayed to him, he was moved by his entreaty, heard his supplication and brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Manasseh realised then that Yahweh is God.

13. He prayed to him, and God received his entreaty and heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manas'seh knew that the LORD was God.

14. Afterwards, he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, to the west of Gihon, in the valley, up to the Fish Gate and round the Ophel, and made it very much higher. And he stationed military governors in all the fortified towns of Judah.

14. Afterwards he built an outer wall for the city of David west of Gihon, in the valley, and for the entrance into the Fish Gate, and carried it round Ophel, and raised it to a very great height; he also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah.

15. He also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the Temple of Yahweh, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the Temple of Yahweh and in Jerusalem, and threw them out of the city.

15. And he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city.

16. He repaired the altar of Yahweh and offered communion sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve Yahweh, God of Israel.

16. He also restored the altar of the LORD and offered upon it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving; and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD the God of Israel.

17. The people, however, went on sacrificing at the high places, although only to Yahweh their God.

17. Nevertheless the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

18. The rest of the history of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the prophecies of the seers who spoke to him in the name of Yahweh, God of Israel, can be found in the Annals of the Kings of Israel.

18. Now the rest of the acts of Manas'seh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD the God of Israel, behold, they are in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

19. His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, all his sins, his infidelity, the sites where he built high places and set up sacred poles and idols before humbling himself, are set down in the records of Hozai.

19. And his prayer, and how God received his entreaty, and all his sin and his faithlessness, and the sites on which he built high places and set up the Ashe'rim and the images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the Chronicles of the Seers.

20. Then Manasseh fell asleep with his ancestors and was buried in the garden of his palace. His son Amon succeeded him.

20. So Manas'seh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house; and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

21. Amon was twenty-two years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem.

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

22. He did what is displeasing to Yahweh, as his father Manasseh had done, for Amon sacrificed to all the images which his father Manasseh had made, and served them.

22. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manas'seh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manas'seh his father had made, and served them.

23. He did not humble himself before Yahweh as his father Manasseh had done; on the contrary, Amon wilfully added to his guilt.

23. And he did not humble himself before the LORD, as Manas'seh his father had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred guilt more and more.

24. His retinue plotted against him and killed him in his own palace.

24. And his servants conspired against him and killed him in his house.

25. The people of the country, however, slaughtered all those who had plotted against King Amon and proclaimed his son Josiah as his successor.

25. But the people of the land slew all those who had conspired against King Amon; and the people of the land made Josi'ah his son king in his stead.