2 Chronicles 33
Easy-to-Read Version
Manasseh, King of Judah
33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah. He was king for 55 years in Jerusalem. 2 Manasseh did what the Lord said was wrong. He followed the terrible and sinful ways of the nations that the Lord had forced out of the land before the Israelites. 3 Manasseh rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down. Manasseh built altars for the Baal gods and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to the constellations[a] and worshiped those groups of stars. 4 Manasseh built altars for false gods in the Lord’s Temple. The Lord said about the Temple, “My name will be in Jerusalem forever.” 5 He built altars for all the groups of stars in the two yards of the Lord’s Temple. 6 He also burned his own children for a sacrifice in the Valley of Ben Hinnom.[b] He also used magic by doing soothsaying, divination, and sorcery.[c] He talked with mediums and wizards. He did many things that the Lord said were evil and made him angry. 7 Manasseh also made a statue of an idol and put it in God’s Temple—the very same Temple that God had talked about to David and his son Solomon. God had said, “I will put my name in this house and in Jerusalem—the city that I chose from all the cities in all the tribes—and my name will be there forever! 8 I will not continue to keep the Israelites off the land that I chose to give to their ancestors. But they must obey everything I commanded them. The Israelites must obey all the laws, rules, and commands that I gave Moses to give to them.”
9 Manasseh encouraged the people of Judah and the people living in Jerusalem to do wrong. They were worse than the nations that were in the land before the Israelites—and the Lord destroyed those people.
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they refused to listen. 11 So the Lord brought commanders from the king of Assyria’s army to attack Judah. These commanders captured Manasseh and made him their prisoner. They put hooks in him and brass chains on his hands and took him to the country of Babylon.
12 When these troubles came to him, Manasseh begged for help from the Lord his God. He humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. 13 Manasseh prayed to God and begged him for help. God heard his begging and felt sorry for him, so he let Manasseh return to Jerusalem and to his throne. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was the true God.
14 After that happened, Manasseh built an outer wall for the City of David. This wall went to the west of Gihon Spring in Kidron Valley, to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and around the hill of Ophel.[d] He made the wall very tall. Then he put officers in all the fortresses in Judah. 15 Manasseh took away the strange idol gods, and he took the idol out of the Lord’s Temple. He took away all the altars he had built on the Temple hill, and in Jerusalem. Manasseh threw all the altars out of the city of Jerusalem. 16 Then he set up the Lord’s altar and offered fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it. He gave a command for all the people of Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 The people continued to offer sacrifices at the high places, but their sacrifices were only to the Lord their God.
18 Everything else Manasseh did, his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are all written in the book, The Official Records of the Kings of Israel. 19 Manasseh’s prayer and how God listened and felt sorry for him are written in The Book of the Seers. Also all his sins, the wrongs he did before he humbled himself, and the places where he built high places and set up the Asherah poles are written in The Book of the Seers. 20 So Manasseh died and was buried with his ancestors. The people buried Manasseh in his own palace. Manasseh’s son Amon became the new king in his place.
Amon, King of Judah
21 Amon was 22 years old when he became king of Judah. He was king for two years in Jerusalem. 22 Amon did evil before the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon offered sacrifices for all the carved idols and statues that Manasseh his father made. Amon worshiped those idols. 23 Amon did not humble himself in front of the Lord like Manasseh his father humbled himself. But Amon sinned more and more. 24 His servants made plans against him. They killed Amon in his own house. 25 But the people of Judah killed all the servants who planned against King Amon. Then the people chose Amon’s son Josiah to be the new king.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 33:3 constellations Groups of stars. These are probably the twelve “signs of the Zodiac.” Some people thought the stars, not God, controlled their life.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6 Valley of Ben Hinnom Later, called “Gehenna.” This valley was west and south of Jerusalem. Many babies and young children were sacrificed to false gods in this valley.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6 soothsaying, divination, and sorcery Different ways people try to do magic or tell what will happen in the future.
- 2 Chronicles 33:14 Ophel The upper part of the City of David, just south of the Temple area.
2 Chronicles 33
New King James Version
Manasseh Reigns in Judah(A)
33 Manasseh (B)was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the (C)abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the [a]high places which Hezekiah his father had (D)broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and (E)made wooden images; and he worshiped (F)all [b]the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, (G)“In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven (H)in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 (I)Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced (J)soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and (K)consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 7 (L)He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the [c]house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, (M)“In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; 8 (N)and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers—only if they are careful to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.” 9 So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.
Manasseh Restored After Repentance
10 And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not [d]listen. 11 (O)Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with [e]hooks, (P)bound him with [f]bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. 12 Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and (Q)humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 and prayed to Him; and He (R)received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh (S)knew that the Lord was God.
14 After this he built a wall outside the City of David on the west side of (T)Gihon, in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate; and it (U)enclosed Ophel, and he raised it to a very great height. Then he put military captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He took away (V)the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city. 16 He also repaired the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings and (W)thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. 17 (X)Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the [g]high places, but only to the Lord their God.
Death of Manasseh(Y)
18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of (Z)the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, indeed they are written in the [h]book of the kings of Israel. 19 Also his prayer and how God received his entreaty, and all his sin and trespass, and the sites where he built [i]high places and set up wooden images and carved images, before he was humbled, indeed they are written among the sayings of [j]Hozai. 20 (AA)So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. Then his son Amon reigned in his place.
Amon’s Reign and Death(AB)
21 (AC)Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22 But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done; for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and served them. 23 And he did not humble himself before the Lord, (AD)as his father Manasseh had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.
24 (AE)Then his servants conspired against him, and (AF)killed him in his own house. 25 But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 33:3 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 33:3 The gods of the Assyrians
- 2 Chronicles 33:7 Temple
- 2 Chronicles 33:10 obey
- 2 Chronicles 33:11 Nose hooks, 2 Kin. 19:28
- 2 Chronicles 33:11 chains
- 2 Chronicles 33:17 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 33:18 Lit. words
- 2 Chronicles 33:19 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 33:19 LXX the seers
2 Chronicles 33
English Standard Version
Manasseh Reigns in Judah
33 (A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to (B)the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places (C)that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made (D)Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, (E)“In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in (F)the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 (G)And he burned his sons as an offering (H)in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and (I)used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with (J)mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 7 And (K)the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, (L)I will put my name forever, 8 and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land (M)that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses.” 9 Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.
Manasseh's Repentance
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. 11 (N)Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and (O)bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God (P)and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 He prayed to him, and (Q)God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. (R)Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.
14 Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of (S)Gihon, in the valley, and for the entrance into (T)the Fish Gate, and carried it around (U)Ophel, and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah. 15 And (V)he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. 16 He also restored the altar of the Lord and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 (W)Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and (X)his prayer to his God, and the words of (Y)the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the (Z)Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 19 And his prayer, and how (AA)God was moved by his entreaty, and all his sin and his faithlessness, and the sites (AB)on which he built high places and set up the (AC)Asherim and the images, before (AD)he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the Chronicles of the Seers.[a] 20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house, and Amon his son reigned in his place.
Amon's Reign and Death
21 (AE)Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images (AF)that Manasseh his father had made, and served them. 23 And he did not humble himself before the Lord, (AG)as Manasseh his father had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred guilt more and more. 24 And his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his house. 25 But 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
- 2 Chronicles 33:19 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts of Hozai
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
