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2 Chronicles 33
New English Translation

Manasseh’s Reign

33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 He did evil in the sight of[a] the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations[b] whom the Lord drove out ahead of the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky[c] and worshiped[d] them. 4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my permanent home.”[e] 5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 6 He passed his sons through the fire[f] in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it.[g] He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord and angered him.[h] 7 He put an idolatrous image he had made in God’s temple, about which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.[i] 8 I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors,[j] provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law, the rules and regulations given through Moses.” 9 But Manasseh misled the people of[k] Judah and the residents of Jerusalem so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.

10 The Lord confronted[l] Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. 11 So the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They seized Manasseh, put hooks in his nose,[m] bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away to Babylon. 12 In his pain[n] Manasseh[o] asked the Lord his God for mercy[p] and truly[q] humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.[r] 13 When he prayed to the Lord,[s] the Lord[t] responded to him[u] and answered favorably[v] his cry for mercy. The Lord[w] brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh realized that the Lord is the true God.

14 After this Manasseh[x] built up the outer wall of the City of David[y] on the west side of the Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate and all around the terrace; he made it much higher. He placed army officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.

15 He removed the foreign gods and images from the Lord’s temple and all the altars he had built on the hill of the Lord’s temple and in Jerusalem; he threw them outside the city. 16 He erected the altar of the Lord and offered on it peace offerings and thank offerings. He told the people of[z] Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. 17 However, the people continued to offer sacrifices at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

18 The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the prophets[aa] spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, are recorded[ab] in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 19 The Annals of the Prophets include his prayer, give an account of how the Lord responded to it, record all his sins and unfaithful acts, and identify the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself.[ac] 20 Manasseh passed away[ad] and was buried in his palace. His son Amon replaced him as king.

Amon’s Reign

21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. 22 He did evil in the sight of[ae] the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon offered sacrifices to all the idols his father Manasseh had made, and worshiped[af] them. 23 He did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done.[ag] Amon was guilty of great sin.[ah] 24 His servants conspired against him and killed him in his palace. 25 The people of the land executed all who had conspired against King Amon, and they[ai] made his son Josiah king in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 33:2 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  2. 2 Chronicles 33:2 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 33:3 tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הֲַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsevaʾ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.
  4. 2 Chronicles 33:3 tn Or “served.”
  5. 2 Chronicles 33:4 tn Heb “In Jerusalem my name will be permanently.”
  6. 2 Chronicles 33:6 tn Or “he sacrificed his sons in the fire.” This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice (NEB, NASB “made his sons pass through the fire”; NIV “sacrificed his sons in the fire”; NRSV “made his sons pass through fire”). For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 266-67.
  7. 2 Chronicles 33:6 tn Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with a conjurer.” Hebrew אוֹב (ʾov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַּעֲלַת אוֹב (baʿalat ʾov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ʾÔḆ,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.
  8. 2 Chronicles 33:6 tn Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering him.”
  9. 2 Chronicles 33:7 tn Heb “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I chose from all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name permanently” (or perhaps “forever”).
  10. 2 Chronicles 33:8 tn Heb “I will not again make the feet of Israel wander from the land which I established for their fathers.”
  11. 2 Chronicles 33:9 tn Heb “misled Judah.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” here by metonymy for the people of Judah.
  12. 2 Chronicles 33:10 tn Heb “spoke to.”
  13. 2 Chronicles 33:11 tn Heb “and they seized him with hooks.”
  14. 2 Chronicles 33:12 tn Or “distress.”
  15. 2 Chronicles 33:12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  16. 2 Chronicles 33:12 tn Heb “appeased the face of the Lord his God.”
  17. 2 Chronicles 33:12 tn Or “greatly.”
  18. 2 Chronicles 33:12 tn Heb “fathers.”
  19. 2 Chronicles 33:13 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  20. 2 Chronicles 33:13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  21. 2 Chronicles 33:13 tn Heb “was entreated by him,” or “allowed himself to be entreated by him.”
  22. 2 Chronicles 33:13 tn Heb “heard.”
  23. 2 Chronicles 33:13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  24. 2 Chronicles 33:14 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  25. 2 Chronicles 33:14 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
  26. 2 Chronicles 33:16 tn Heb “told Judah.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” here by metonymy for the people of Judah.
  27. 2 Chronicles 33:18 tn Or “seers.”
  28. 2 Chronicles 33:18 tn Heb “look, they are.”
  29. 2 Chronicles 33:19 tn Heb “and his prayer and being entreated by him, and all his sin and his unfaithfulness and the places where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself—behold, they are written on the words of his seers.”
  30. 2 Chronicles 33:20 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
  31. 2 Chronicles 33:22 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  32. 2 Chronicles 33:22 tn Or “served.”
  33. 2 Chronicles 33:23 tn Heb “as Manasseh his father had humbled himself.”
  34. 2 Chronicles 33:23 tn Heb “for he, Amon, multiplied guilt.”
  35. 2 Chronicles 33:25 tn Heb “and the people of the land.”
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2 Chronicles 33
Legacy Standard Bible

Manasseh Reigns over Judah

33 (A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 (B)And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 3 Indeed, (C)he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had torn down; and (D)he erected altars for the Baals and made [a]Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 (E)And he built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh had said, “(F)In Jerusalem My name shall be forever.” 5 Indeed, he built altars for all the host of heaven in (G)the two courts of the house of Yahweh. 6 (H)He even made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced soothsaying, interpreted omens, practiced sorcery, and (I)dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much that was evil in the sight of Yahweh, provoking Him to anger. 7 Then he put (J)the graven image of the [b]idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “(K)In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 8 And I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land (L)which I have set up for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes and the judgments given by the hand of Moses.” 9 Thus Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray in order to do more evil than the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the sons of Israel.

Manasseh Removes Foreign Idols

10 Then Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and his people, but (M)they paid no attention. 11 (N)Therefore Yahweh brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with [c]hooks, (O)bound him with bronze chains, and took him to Babylon. 12 And when (P)he was in distress, he entreated Yahweh his God and (Q)humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 Then he prayed to Him, and (R)He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and returned him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh (S)knew that Yahweh was God.

14 Afterwards, he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of (T)Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the (U)Fish Gate; and he encircled the (V)Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He also (W)removed the foreign gods and the [d]idol from the house of Yahweh, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of Yahweh and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. 16 And he set up the altar of Yahweh and sacrificed (X)peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he said for Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel. 17 Nevertheless (Y)the people still sacrificed in the high places, although only to Yahweh their God.

18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, even (Z)his prayer to his God, and the words of (AA)the seers who spoke to him in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, behold, they are among the chronicles of the kings of (AB)Israel. 19 His prayer also and (AC)how God was entreated by him, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and (AD)the sites on which he built high places and erected the [e]Asherim and the graven images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the chronicles of the [f]Hozai. 20 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. And Amon his son became king in his place.

Amon Reigns over Judah

21 (AE)Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as Manasseh his father (AF)had done, and Amon sacrificed to all (AG)the graven images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. 23 Moreover, he did not humble himself before Yahweh (AH)as his father Manasseh had humbled himself, but Amon multiplied guilt. 24 Then (AI)his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house. 25 Then the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 33:3 Wooden symbols of a female deity
  2. 2 Chronicles 33:7 Or figure
  3. 2 Chronicles 33:11 Hooks put through the nose, cf. 2 Kin 19:28
  4. 2 Chronicles 33:15 Or figure
  5. 2 Chronicles 33:19 Wooden symbols of a female deity
  6. 2 Chronicles 33:19 Gr seers
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