Manasseh Reigns in Judah^(A)

21 Manasseh ^(B)was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. ² And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(C)according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. ³ For he rebuilt the ^[a]high places ^(D)which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a ^[b]wooden image, ^(E)as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he ^(F)worshiped all ^[c]the host of heaven and served them. ^4 (G)He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ^(H)“In Jerusalem I will put My name.” ⁵ And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the ^(I)two courts of the house of the Lord. ^6 (J)Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced ^(K)soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. ⁷ He even set a carved image of ^[d]Asherah that he had made, in the ^[e]house of which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon his son, ^(L)“In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; ^8 (M)and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” ⁹ But they paid no attention, and Manasseh ^(N)seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke ^(O)by His servants the prophets, saying, ^11 (P)“Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (^(Q)he has acted more wickedly than all the ^(R)Amorites who were before him, and ^(S)has also made Judah sin with his idols), ¹² therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both ^(T)his ears will tingle. ¹³ And I will stretch over Jerusalem ^(U)the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; ^(V)I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴ So I will forsake the ^(W)remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, ¹⁵ because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’ ”

^16 (X)Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord.

¹⁷ Now ^(Y)the rest of the acts of ^(Z)Manasseh—all that he did, and the sin that he committed—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ¹⁸ So ^(AA)Manasseh ^[f]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon reigned in his place.

Amon’s Reign and Death^(AB)

^19 (AC)Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰ And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(AD)as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ So he walked in all the ways that his father had walked; and he served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them. ²² He ^(AE)forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.

^23 (AF)Then the servants of Amon ^(AG)conspired against him, and killed the king in his own house. ²⁴ But the people of the land ^(AH)executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then 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 And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. Then Josiah his son reigned in his place.

Josiah Reigns in Judah^(AI)

22 Josiah ^(AJ)was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of ^(AK)Bozkath. ² And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he ^(AL)did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law^(AM)

^3 (AN)Now it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the Lord, saying: ⁴ “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which has been ^(AO)brought into the house of the Lord, which ^(AP)the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. ⁵ And let them ^(AQ)deliver it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the house of the Lord; let them give it to those who are in the house of the Lord doing the work, to repair the damages of the house— ⁶ to carpenters and builders and masons—and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. ⁷ However ^(AR)there need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into their hand, because they deal faithfully.”

⁸ Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, ^(AS)“I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. ⁹ So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “Your servants have ^[g]gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the Lord.” ¹⁰ Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

¹¹ Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. ¹² Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, ^(AT)Ahikam the son of Shaphan, ^[h]Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, ¹³ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is ^(AU)the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of ^(AV)Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her. ¹⁵ Then she said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, ¹⁶ “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, ^(AW)I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read— ^17 (AX)because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.’ ” ’ ¹⁸ But as for ^(AY)the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard— ¹⁹ because your ^(AZ)heart was tender, and you ^(BA)humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become ^(BB)a desolation and ^(BC)a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord. ²⁰ “Surely, therefore, I will ^[i]gather you to your fathers, and you ^(BD)shall ^[j]be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place.” ’ ” So they brought back word to the king.