2 Chronicles 33
Christian Standard Bible
Judah’s King Manasseh
33 Manasseh was twelve years old(A) when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.(B) 3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down(C) and reestablished the altars for the Baals. He made Asherah poles, and he bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky and served them. 4 He built altars(D) in the Lord’s temple, where the Lord had said, “Jerusalem is where my name will remain forever.”(E) 5 He built altars to all the stars in the sky in both courtyards(F) of the Lord’s temple. 6 He passed his sons through the fire in Ben Hinnom Valley.(G) He practiced witchcraft, divination, and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists.(H) He did a huge amount of evil in the Lord’s sight, angering him.
7 Manasseh(I) set up a carved image of the idol, which he had made, in God’s temple(J) that God had spoken about to David and his son Solomon: “I will establish my name forever[a](K) in this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.(L) 8 I will never again remove the feet of the Israelites from the land where I stationed your[b](M) ancestors,(N) if only they will be careful to do all I have commanded them through Moses—all the law, statutes, and judgments.” 9 So Manasseh caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to stray so that they did worse evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.
Manasseh’s Repentance
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they didn’t listen.(O) 11 So he brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria. They captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.(P) 12 When he was in distress, he sought the favor of the Lord his God and earnestly humbled himself(Q) before the God of his ancestors. 13 He prayed to him, and the Lord was receptive to his prayer. He granted his request(R) and brought him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom. So Manasseh came to know that the Lord is God.(S)
14 After this, he built the outer wall of the city of David from west of Gihon(T) in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate;(U) he brought it around Ophel,(V) and he heightened it considerably. He also placed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
15 He removed the foreign gods and the idol(W) from the Lord’s temple, along with all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the Lord’s temple and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. 16 He built[c] the altar of the Lord and offered fellowship and thanksgiving sacrifices on it. Then he told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 However, the people still sacrificed at the high places,(X) but only to the Lord their God.
Manasseh’s Death
18 The rest of the events(Y) of Manasseh’s reign, along with his prayer(Z) to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are written in the Events of Israel’s Kings. 19 His prayer and how God was receptive to his prayer, and all his sin and unfaithfulness and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and carved images before he humbled himself, they are written in the Events of Hozai. 20 Manasseh rested with his ancestors, and he was buried in his own house. His son Amon became king in his place.
Judah’s King Amon
21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his father Manasseh had done.(AA) Amon sacrificed to all the carved images that his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. 23 But he did not humble himself before the Lord like his father Manasseh humbled himself;(AB) instead, Amon increased his guilt.
24 So his servants conspired against him and put him to death(AC) in his own house. 25 The common people[d] killed all who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.
Nahum 1-3
Christian Standard Bible
1 The pronouncement(A) concerning Nineveh.(B) The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
God’s Vengeance
2 The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord takes vengeance
and is fierce in[a] wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance against his foes;(C)
he is furious with his enemies.(D)
3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power;
the Lord will never leave the guilty unpunished.(E)
His path is in the whirlwind and storm,(F)
and clouds are the dust beneath his feet.(G)
4 He rebukes the sea and dries it up,
and he makes all the rivers run dry.(H)
Bashan and Carmel wither;(I)
even the flower of Lebanon withers.
5 The mountains quake before him,
and the hills melt;
the earth trembles[b][c] at his presence—
the world and all who live in it.(J)
6 Who can withstand his indignation?
Who can endure his burning anger?(K)
His wrath is poured out like fire;(L)
even rocks are shattered before him.
Destruction of Nineveh
7 The Lord is good,
a stronghold in a day of distress;
he cares for those who take refuge(M) in him.
8 But he will completely destroy Nineveh[d]
with an overwhelming flood,(N)
and he will chase his enemies into darkness.
9 Whatever you[e] plot against the Lord,
he will bring it to complete destruction;(O)
oppression will not rise up a second time.
10 For they will be consumed
like entangled thorns,(P)
like the drink of a drunkard
and like straw that is fully dry.[f]
11 One has gone out from you,[g]
who plots evil against the Lord,
and is a wicked counselor.
Promise of Judah’s Deliverance
12 This is what the Lord says:
Though they are strong[h] and numerous,
they will still be mowed down,
and he[i] will pass away.
Though I have punished you,[j](Q)
I will punish you no longer.(R)
13 For I will now break off his yoke from you
and tear off your shackles.
The Assyrian King’s Demise
14 The Lord has issued an order concerning you:
There will be no offspring
to carry on your name.[k](S)
I will eliminate the carved idol and cast image
from the house of your gods;(T)
I will prepare your grave,
for you are contemptible.
15 Look to the mountains—
the feet of the herald,(U)
who proclaims peace.
Celebrate your festivals, Judah;
fulfill your vows.
For the wicked one will never again
march through you;
he will be entirely wiped out.
Attack against Nineveh
2 One who scatters is coming up against you.(V)
Man the fortifications!
Watch the road!
Brace[l] yourself!
Summon all your strength!(W)
2 For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob,(X)
yes,[m] the majesty of Israel,
though ravagers have ravaged them(Y)
and ruined their vine branches.(Z)
3 The shields of his[n] warriors are dyed red;
the valiant men are dressed in scarlet.(AA)
The fittings of the chariot flash like fire(AB)
on the day of its battle preparations,
and the spears are brandished.
4 The chariots dash madly through the streets;
they rush around in the plazas.
They look like torches;
they dart back and forth like lightning.
5 He gives orders to his officers;
they stumble as they advance.
They race to its wall;
the protective shield is set in place.
6 The river gates are opened,
and the palace erodes away.(AC)
7 Beauty[o] is stripped;[p]
she is carried away;
her ladies-in-waiting moan
like the sound of doves(AD)
and beat their breasts.(AE)
8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water
from her first days,[q]
but they are fleeing.
“Stop! Stop!” they cry,
but no one turns back.
9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” (AF)
There is no end to the treasure,
an abundance of every precious thing.(AG)
10 Desolation, decimation, devastation!
Hearts melt,(AH)
knees tremble,(AI)
insides churn,(AJ)
every face grows pale!(AK)
11 Where is the lions’ lair,(AL)
or the feeding ground of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness prowled,
and the lion’s cub,
with nothing to frighten them away?(AM)
12 The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed
and strangled prey for its lionesses.
It filled up its dens with the kill,
and its lairs with mauled prey.(AN)
13 Beware, I am against you.(AO)
This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
I will make your chariots go up in smoke,[r]
and the sword will devour your young lions.(AP)
I will cut off your prey from the earth,
and the sound of your messengers
will never be heard again.(AQ)
Nineveh’s Downfall
3 Woe to the city of blood,(AR)
totally deceitful,
full of plunder,
never without prey.(AS)
2 The crack of the whip
and rumble of the wheel,
galloping horse
and jolting chariot!(AT)
3 Charging horseman,
flashing sword,
shining spear;
heaps of slain,
mounds of corpses,(AU)
dead bodies without end(AV)—
they stumble over their dead.
4 Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute,
the attractive mistress of sorcery,
who treats nations and clans like merchandise
by her prostitution and sorcery,(AW)
5 I am against you.(AX)
This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
I will lift your skirts over your face
and display your nakedness to nations,
your shame to kingdoms.(AY)
6 I will throw filth on you
and treat you with contempt;(AZ)
I will make a spectacle of you.
7 Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying,(BA)
“Nineveh is devastated;
who will show sympathy to her?”
Where can I find anyone to comfort you?
8 Are you better than Thebes[s](BB)
that sat along the Nile
with water surrounding her,
whose rampart was the sea,
the river[t][u] her wall?
9 Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;
Put and Libya were among her[v] allies.
10 Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity.
Her children were also dashed to pieces(BC)
at the head of every street.
They cast lots for her dignitaries,(BD)
and all her nobles were bound in chains.
11 You[w] also will become drunk;
you will hide.[x]
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are fig trees
with figs that ripened first;
when shaken, they fall—
right into the mouth of the eater!
13 Look, your troops are like women among you;
your land’s city gates
are wide open to your enemies.
Fire will devour the bars of your gates.
14 Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your fortresses.
Step into the clay and tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick-mold!
15 The fire will devour you there;
the sword will cut you down.
It will devour you like the young locust.(BE)
Multiply yourselves like the young locust;
multiply like the swarming locust!
16 You have made your merchants(BF)
more numerous than the stars of the sky.
The young locust strips[y] the land
and flies away.
17 Your court officials are like the swarming locust,
and your scribes like clouds of locusts,
which settle on the walls on a cold day;
when the sun rises, they take off,
and no one knows where they are.
18 King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;(BG)
your officers sleep.
Your people are scattered across the mountains(BH)
with no one to gather them together.(BI)
19 There is no remedy for your injury;
your wound is severe.(BJ)
All who hear the news about you
will clap their hands because of you,(BK)
for who has not experienced
your constant cruelty?
Footnotes
- 1:2 Lit is a master of
- 1:5 Some emend to earth is laid waste
- 1:5 Lit lifts
- 1:8 Lit her place
- 1:9 = Nineveh
- 1:10 Hb obscure
- 1:11 Possibly Nineveh
- 1:12 Lit intact
- 1:12 Either the king of Assyria or his army
- 1:12 = Judah
- 1:14 Lit It will not be sown from your name any longer
- 2:1 Lit Strengthen
- 2:2 Or like
- 2:3 = the army commander attacking Nineveh
- 2:7 Text emended; MT reads Huzzab
- 2:7 Hb obscure
- 2:8 Hb obscure
- 2:13 Lit will burn her chariots in smoke
- 3:8 Hb No-amon
- 3:8 LXX, Syr, Vg read water
- 3:8 Lit sea from sea
- 3:9 Lit your
- 3:11 = Nineveh
- 3:11 Or will be overcome
- 3:16 Or sheds its skin
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