2 Chronicles 33
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Judah’s King Manasseh
33 Manasseh was 12 years old(A) when he became king and reigned 55 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 worshiped the whole heavenly host and served them. 4 He built altars(D) in the Lord’s temple, where Yahweh had said, “Jerusalem is where My name will remain forever.”(E) 5 He built altars to the whole heavenly host in both courtyards(F) of the Lord’s temple. 6 He passed his sons through the fire in the Valley of Hinnom.(G) He practiced witchcraft, divination, and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists.(H) He did a great deal of evil in the Lord’s sight, provoking Him.
7 Manasseh(I) set up a carved image of the idol he had made, in God’s temple,(J) about which God had said 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 that 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 Yahweh his God and earnestly humbled himself(Q) before the God of his ancestors. 13 He prayed to Him, so He heard his petition and granted his request,(R) and brought him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom. So Manasseh came to know that Yahweh 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 the 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 thank offerings on it. Then he told Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel. 17 However, the people still sacrificed at the high places,(X) but only to Yahweh 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 Yahweh, the God of Israel, are written in the Records of Israel’s Kings. 19 His prayer and how God granted his request, 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 Records of Hozai. 20 Manasseh rested with his fathers, and he was buried in his own house. His son Amon became king in his place.
Judah’s King Amon
21 Amon was 22 years old when he became king and 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 Then the common people[d] executed all those who conspired against King Amon and made his son Josiah king in his place.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 33:7 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg; 2Kg 21:7; MT reads name for Elom
- 2 Chronicles 33:8 LXX, Syr, Vg read land I gave to their; 2Kg 21:8
- 2 Chronicles 33:16 Some Hb mss, Syr, Tg, Arabic; other Hb mss, LXX, Vg read restored
- 2 Chronicles 33:25 Lit the people of the land
2 Chronicles 33
New Living Translation
Manasseh Rules in Judah
33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. 2 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations that the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had broken down. He constructed altars for the images of Baal and set up Asherah poles. He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshiped them.
4 He built pagan altars in the Temple of the Lord, the place where the Lord had said, “My name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” 5 He built these altars for all the powers of the heavens in both courtyards of the Lord’s Temple. 6 Manasseh also sacrificed his own sons in the fire[a] in the valley of Ben-Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the Lord’s sight, arousing his anger.
7 Manasseh even took a carved idol he had made and set it up in God’s Temple, the very place where God had told David and his son Solomon: “My name will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem—the city I have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel. 8 If the Israelites will be careful to obey my commands—all the laws, decrees, and regulations given through Moses—I will not send them into exile from this land that I set aside for your ancestors.” 9 But Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land.
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings. 11 So the Lord sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner. They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon. 12 But while in deep distress, Manasseh sought the Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. 13 And when he prayed, the Lord listened to him and was moved by his request. So the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh finally realized that the Lord alone is God!
14 After this Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, from west of the Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley to the Fish Gate, and continuing around the hill of Ophel. He built the wall very high. And he stationed his military officers in all of the fortified towns of Judah. 15 Manasseh also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the Lord’s Temple. He tore down all the altars he had built on the hill where the Temple stood and all the altars that were in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the city. 16 Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He also encouraged the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 However, the people still sacrificed at the pagan shrines, though only to the Lord their God.
18 The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign, his prayer to God, and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel. 19 Manasseh’s prayer, the account of the way God answered him, and an account of all his sins and unfaithfulness are recorded in The Record of the Seers.[b] It includes a list of the locations where he built pagan shrines and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself and repented. 20 When Manasseh died, he was buried in his palace. Then his son Amon became the next king.
Amon Rules in Judah
21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. 22 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his father, Manasseh, had done. He worshiped and sacrificed to all the idols his father had made. 23 But unlike his father, he did not humble himself before the Lord. Instead, Amon sinned even more.
24 Then Amon’s own officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace. 25 But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah the next king.
2 Chronicles 33
The Voice
33 Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem, the longest of any king in Israel. 2 He behaved wickedly before the Eternal, acting with the same abominations as the previous nations did before the Eternal gave their land to Israel. 3 He reversed the good deeds of Hezekiah, rebuilding the high places and altars for the Baals and hoisting carved images of Asherah into the skies. He worshiped all the celestial bodies as false deities. 4-5 He even desecrated the Eternal’s temple, the place honoring His reputation which was to remain in Jerusalem forever, by building pagan altars in two courts there. 6 In the valley of Ben-hinnom, Manasseh offered his children as burnt offerings to those false gods and used every form of magic: witchcraft, divination, sorcery, and necromancy. Manasseh’s evil actions infuriated the Eternal, but the worst of his actions was 7 his installation of an image of a statue in the True God’s temple. Many years before when His glory entered the temple for the first time, God had spoken.
Eternal One (to David and his son Solomon): From among all the tribes I have chosen this house and this city, Jerusalem, from all the cities throughout Israel. This place will honor My reputation forever, 8 so that I will never allow Israel to leave the land that I gave to your ancestors—as long as you and your descendants follow the laws and requirements I gave to you through Moses.[a]
9 Manasseh corrupted Judah and the people of Jerusalem until they were more evil than the nations whom the Eternal had destroyed before the Israelites. 10 Their minds were so full of sin that they didn’t hear the Eternal asking them to return to His ways. 11 So to get their attention, the Eternal used the Assyrian army to express His anger. The commanders captured Manasseh, forced a ring through his nose, bound his limbs with bronze chains, and carried him to Babylon as if he were an animal. 12 From this position of complete powerlessness, Manasseh finally humbled himself and begged the forgiveness of the Eternal God of his fathers. 13 He heard Manasseh’s prayer and found it sincere; He returned Manasseh to the throne in Jerusalem. From that day forward, Manasseh never doubted that the Eternal was the True God.
Unlike his evil predecessor Ahaz, Manasseh sees the error of his ways and returns to God. He even reinstates his father’s reforms, further demonstrating his devotion to God. Manasseh’s change of heart is rewarded with the longest reign of any Israelite king.
14 Having returned to proper faith, Manasseh continued his father’s work. He finished building the outer city wall from the west side of the Gihon River through the valley to the fish gate. Then he built high walls around the hill of Ophel[b] and stationed commanders at each fortified city in Judah. 15 Then Manasseh began to purge the nation of the sin he had brought there. He tore out the idols from inside the Eternal’s temple and the foreign altars from the temple mount and in Jerusalem, disposing of them outside the city. 16 He then restored the Eternal’s altar and gave grateful offerings of peace and praise there. Even though Manasseh ordered the Judahites to serve only the Eternal God of Israel in the way that He commanded, 17 they continued to sacrifice to the Eternal God at other high places instead of only in Jerusalem.
18 The other actions of Manasseh, from his birth to his death, including his prayer to his True God and the oracles of the seers, those proclaiming the reputation of the Eternal God of Israel, are recorded in the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 19 His prayer, the True God’s compassion, and a record of his sins, unfaithfulness, and the locations of the high places and cultic statues, before he humbled himself, are written in the chronicles of Hozai.[c]
20 But when Manasseh joined his ancestors in death, the people buried him in his house, not in the tombs with his ancestors. His son Amon reigned in his place.
21 Amon was 22 years old when he began his short two-year reign in Jerusalem. 22 Like his father, Manasseh, Amon committed evil acts before the Eternal by serving and sacrificing to Manasseh’s carved cultic images. 23 But unlike his father, Amon did not recognize his sins and humble himself. In fact, his guilt was so prolific 24 that his own servants murdered him in the palace.
Regardless of his popularity, ethics, or effectiveness, Amon is the king, and kings cannot be killed by commoners.
25 So the people killed the conspirators for their betrayal of King Amon and anointed Amon’s son Josiah as king instead.
Footnotes
- 33:7–8 2 Samuel 7:10
- 33:14 Possibly the temple mount
- 33:19 Greek, “seers”
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