² And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(A)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 ^(B)which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a ^[b]wooden image, ^(C)as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he ^(D)worshiped all ^[c]the host of heaven and served them. ^4 (E)He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ^(F)“In Jerusalem I will put My name.” ⁵ And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the ^(G)two courts of the house of the Lord. ^6 (H)Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced ^(I)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, ^(J)“In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; ^8 (K)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 ^(L)seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

³ Surely at the commandment of the Lord this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight ^(A)because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, ^4 (B)and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon.