2 Chronicles 33
International Children’s Bible
Manasseh King of Judah
33 Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king of Judah. And he was king for 55 years in Jerusalem. 2 He did what the Lord said was wrong. He did the hated things the other nations had done. And the Lord had forced these nations out of the land ahead of Israel. 3 Manasseh’s father, Hezekiah, had torn down the places where false gods were worshiped. But Manasseh rebuilt them. Manasseh also built altars for the Baal gods and made Asherah idols. He bowed down to the stars and worshiped them. 4 The Lord had said about the Temple, “I will be worshiped in Jerusalem forever.” But Manasseh built altars for false gods in the Temple of the Lord. 5 He built altars to worship the stars in the two courtyards of the Temple of the Lord. 6 He burned his sons as sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He practiced magic and witchcraft. He told the future by explaining signs and dreams. He got advice from mediums and fortune-tellers. He did many things the Lord said were wrong. And this made the Lord angry.
7 He carved an idol and put it in the Temple of God. God had spoken to David and his son Solomon about the Temple. He had said, “I will be worshiped in this Temple and in Jerusalem forever. I have chosen Jerusalem from all the tribes of Israel. 8 I will never again make the Israelites leave the land I gave to their ancestors. But they must obey everything I commanded them. They must obey all the teachings, rules and commands I gave them through Moses.” 9 But Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do wrong. They did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they did not listen. 11 So the Lord brought the king of Assyria’s army commanders to attack Judah. They captured Manasseh and put hooks in him. They put bronze chains on his hands. They made him their prisoner and took him to Babylon. 12 As Manasseh suffered, he begged the Lord his God for help. He became very sorry for what he had done before the God of his ancestors. 13 When Manasseh prayed, the Lord heard him and had pity for him. So the Lord let him return to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is the true God.
14 After that happened, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall for Jerusalem. It was in the valley on the west side of the Gihon spring. It went to the entrance of the Fish Gate and around the hill of Ophel. He also made the wall higher. Then he put commanders in all the strong, walled cities in Judah.
15 Manasseh removed the idols of other nations. And he took the idol out of the Temple of the Lord. He removed all the altars he had built on the Temple hill and in Jerusalem. And he threw them out of the city. 16 Then he set up the Lord’s altar. And he sacrificed on it fellowship offerings and offerings to show thanks to the Lord. Manasseh commanded all the people of Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 The people continued to offer sacrifices at the places of worship. But their sacrifices were only to the Lord their God. 18 The other things Manasseh did as king are written down. His prayer to his God is recorded. And what the seers said to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, is recorded. They are all in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. 19 Manasseh’s prayer and God’s pity for him are written down. Also all of Manasseh’s sins and how he was unfaithful to the Lord are recorded. The places he built for worshiping false gods and for the Asherah idols are recorded. He did all these things but later became sorry for them. They are all in the book of the seers. 20 Manasseh died and was buried in his palace. Then Manasseh’s son Amon became king in his place.
Amon King of Judah
21 Amon was 22 years old when he became king. And he was king for two years in Jerusalem. 22 He did what the Lord said was wrong. He did as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the carved idols Manasseh had made. 23 Amon was not sorry for what he did wrong before the Lord. He was not sorry as his father Manasseh had been. Instead, Amon sinned even more.
24 Amon’s officers made plans against him and killed him in his palace. 25 But the people of Judah killed all those who had made plans to kill King Amon. And they made his son Josiah to be king in his place.
2 Chronicles 33
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 33
Manasseh’s Rule. 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord by following the abominable practices of the nations that the Lord had driven out in favor of the Israelites.
3 Manasseh rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, erected altars to the Baals, made sacred poles, and prostrated himself before all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord about which the Lord had said: “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”
5 Manasseh also built altars for all the host of heaven[a] in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 Further, he immolated his sons by fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, practiced soothsaying, divination, and sorcery, and had dealings with mediums and wizards. Thus he perpetrated great evil in the sight of the Lord and aroused his anger.
7 Manasseh took the carved image of the idol that he had made and placed it in the house of God, concerning which God had said to David and to Solomon his son: “In this house, and in Jerusalem, the city which I chose out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish my name forever. 8 I will never again allow the feet of Israel to be removed from the land which I assigned to your ancestors, provided that they are careful to observe all that I commanded them in regard to the entire law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses.”
9 However, Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray so that they did far greater evil than the nations which the Lord had destroyed in favor of the Israelites. 10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they refused to listen.
11 Manasseh’s Conversion. Therefore, the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They took Manasseh captive with hooks, shackled him with chains, and brought him to Babylon.[b] 12 In his distress, he entreated the mercy of the Lord, his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. 13 After praying to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty. Having accepted his supplication, he restored him to his kingdom in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh fully understood that the Lord is indeed God.
14 Afterward, Manasseh built an outer wall for the City of David, to the west of Gihon in the valley, and he extended it up to the entrance by the Fish Gate and encircling Ophel, raising it to a great height. He also stationed military commanders in all the fortified towns of Judah. 15 Furthermore, he removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, as well as all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he cast them outside the city.
16 Manasseh also restored the altar of the Lord, and upon that altar he sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings, while at the same time commanding Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 Though the people continued to sacrifice at the high places, they now did so only to the Lord, their God.
18 The rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the prophecies of the seers[c] who spoke to him, in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, can be found in the annals of the kings of Israel. 19 His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, all his sins and his infidelity, and the sites where he built high places and set up sacred poles and idols before he humbled himself, can be found recorded in the chronicles of the seers.[d] 20 Manasseh slept with his ancestors, and he was buried in the garden of his palace. His son Amon succeeded him.
21 Amon. Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for two years. 22 He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the idols that his father Manasseh had made, and he worshiped them.
23 Amon did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done. On the contrary, Amon only increased his guilt. 24 His servants conspired against him, and they assassinated him in the palace. 25 However, the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and then they proclaimed his son Josiah as his successor.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 33:5 Host of heaven: the reference is to the astral divinities of the pagan world, and especially of Babylonia.
- 2 Chronicles 33:11 We would expect the name of Nineveh, not of Babylon. Rather than suspecting some confusion, we should see a confirmation of the accurate information of the writer. Manasseh may in fact have gone to Babylon, for it is known that at that period the Assyrian sovereigns frequently stayed in Babylon, in whose fidelity, they had little confidence.
- 2 Chronicles 33:18 The seers: the prophets.
- 2 Chronicles 33:19 Chronicles of the seers: most Hebrew manuscripts read “Hozai,” an unknown prophet. Perhaps the Uzza of 2 Ki 21:18 is meant. The prayer of Manasseh to his God is not the “prayer of Manasseh” that is contained in the extracanonical appendix to the Latin Bible.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
