King Manasseh of Judah^(A)

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah. ^2 (B)Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord. ³ He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he built altars for the worship of Baal and made an image of the goddess Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped the stars. ^4 (C)He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped. ⁵ In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. ⁶ He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering. He practiced divination and magic and consulted^[a] fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. ^7 (D)He placed the symbol of the goddess Asherah in the Temple, the place about which the Lord had said to David and his son Solomon: “Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. ⁸ And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors.” ⁹ But the people of Judah did not obey the Lord, and Manasseh led them to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced.

¹⁰ Through his servants the prophets the Lord said, ¹¹ “King Manasseh has done these disgusting things, things far worse than what the Canaanites did; and with his idols he has led the people of Judah into sin. ¹² So I, the Lord God of Israel, will bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. ¹³ I will punish Jerusalem as I did Samaria, as I did King Ahab of Israel and his descendants. I will wipe Jerusalem clean of its people, as clean as a plate that has been wiped and turned upside down. ¹⁴ I will abandon the people who survive, and will hand them over to their enemies, who will conquer them and plunder their land. ¹⁵ I will do this to my people because they have sinned against me and have stirred up my anger from the time their ancestors came out of Egypt to this day.”

¹⁶ Manasseh killed so many innocent people that the streets of Jerusalem were flowing with blood; he did this in addition to leading the people of Judah into idolatry, causing them to sin against the Lord.

¹⁷ Everything else that Manasseh did, including the sins he committed, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. ¹⁸ Manasseh died and was buried in the palace garden, the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.

King Manasseh of Judah^(A)

33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. ^2 (B)Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord. ³ He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for the worship of Baal, made images of the goddess Asherah, and worshiped the stars. ^4 (C)He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped forever. ⁵ In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. ⁶ He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. ^7 (D)He placed an image in the Temple, the place about which God had said to David and his son Solomon: “Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. ⁸ And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors.” ⁹ Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced.

Manasseh Repents

¹⁰ Although the Lord warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen. ¹¹ So the Lord let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon. ¹² In his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged him for help. ¹³ God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the Lord was God.

¹⁴ After this, Manasseh increased the height of the outer wall on the east side of David's City, from a point in the valley near Gihon Spring north to the Fish Gate and the area of the city called Ophel. He also stationed an army officer in command of a unit of troops in each of the fortified cities of Judah. ¹⁵ He removed from the Temple the foreign gods and the image that he had placed there, and the pagan altars that were on the hill where the Temple stood and in other places in Jerusalem; he took all these things outside the city and threw them away. ¹⁶ He also repaired the altar where the Lord was worshiped, and he sacrificed fellowship offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He commanded all the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁷ Although the people continued to offer sacrifices at other places of worship, they offered them only to the Lord.

The End of Manasseh's Reign^(E)

¹⁸ Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁹ The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented—the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped—are all recorded in The History of the Prophets.

²⁰ Manasseh died and was buried at the palace, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.