Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah

21 ^(A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. ^2 (B)He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(C)in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the Lord ^[a]dispossessed before the sons of Israel. ³ For ^(D)he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and ^(E)he erected altars for Baal and made an ^[b]Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he ^(F)worshiped all the heavenly ^[c]lights and served them. ⁴ And ^(G)he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “^(H)In Jerusalem I will put My name.” ⁵ He built altars for ^(I)all the heavenly ^[d]lights in ^(J)the two courtyards of the house of the Lord. ⁶ And ^(K)he made his son pass through the fire, ^(L)interpreted signs, practiced divination, and used mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. ⁷ Then ^(M)he put the carved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “^(N)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 ^(O)will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will take care to act in accordance with everything that I have commanded them, and with all the Law that My servant Moses commanded them.” ⁹ But they did not listen, and Manasseh ^(P)encouraged them to do evil, more than the nations whom the Lord eliminated from the presence of the sons of Israel.

The King’s Idolatries Rebuked

¹⁰ Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, ¹¹ “^(Q)Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations, ^(R)having done more evil than all that the Amorites did who were before him, and ^(S)has also misled Judah into sin ^(T)with his idols, ¹² therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears about it, ^(U)both of his ears will ring. ^13 (V)I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean just as one wipes a bowl, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴ And I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoils to all their enemies, ¹⁵ because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.’”

^16 (W)Furthermore, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem ^[e]from one end to another, besides his sin ^(X)into which he misled Judah, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. ^17 (Y)Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and his sin which he ^[f]committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^18 (Z)And Manasseh ^[g]lay down with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, ^(AA)in the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon became king in his place.

Amon Succeeds Manasseh

^19 (AB)Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(AC)just as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ For he walked ^[h]entirely in the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them. ²² So ^(AD)he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. ²³ And ^(AE)the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. ²⁴ Then ^(AF)the people of the land ^[i]killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place. ²⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁶ He was buried in his grave ^(AG)in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.