Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah

21 ^(A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. ^2 (B)He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(C)according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel. ³ For ^(D)he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and ^(E)he erected altars for Baal and made an ^[a]Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and ^(F)worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. ^4 (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 For he built altars for ^(I)all the host of heaven in ^(J)the two courts of the house of the Lord. ^6 (K)He made his son pass through the fire, ^(L)practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord provoking Him to anger. ⁷ Then ^(M)he set the carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the Lord 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 observe 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 did not listen, and Manasseh ^(P)seduced them to do evil more than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.

The King’s Idolatries Rebuked

¹⁰ Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, ¹¹ “^(Q)Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, ^(R)having done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and ^(S)has also made Judah sin ^(T)with his idols; ¹² therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, ^(U)both his ears will tingle. ^13 (V)I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴ I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil 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)Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin ^(X)with which he made Judah sin, 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 ^[b]committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^18 (Z)And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, ^(AA)in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son became king in his place.

Amon Succeeds Manasseh

^19 (AB)Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned 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)as Manasseh his father had done. ²¹ For he walked in all the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them. ²² So ^(AD)he forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. ^23 (AE)The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. ²⁴ Then ^(AF)the people of the land ^[c]killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son 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 Josiah his son became king in his place.

Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah in Judah

33 ^(A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ^2 (B)He did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel. ³ For ^(C)he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; ^(D)he also erected altars for the Baals and made ^[a]Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. ^4 (E)He built altars in the house of the Lord of which the Lord had said, “My name shall be ^(F)in Jerusalem forever.” ⁵ For he built altars for all the host of heaven in ^(G)the two courts of the house of the Lord. ^6 (H)He made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and ^(I)dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. ⁷ Then he put ^(J)the carved image of the 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 appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes and the ordinances given through Moses.” ⁹ Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.

Manasseh’s Idolatry Rebuked

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

¹⁴ Now after this 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 army commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. ¹⁵ He also ^(W)removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. ¹⁶ He set up the altar of the Lord and sacrificed ^(X)peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁷ Nevertheless ^(Y)the people still sacrificed in the high places, although only to the Lord 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 the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are among the records 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 Asherim and the carved images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the records of the ^[c]Hozai. ²⁰ So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. And Amon his son became king in his place.

Amon Becomes King in Judah

^21 (AE)Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. ²² He did evil in the sight of the Lord as Manasseh his father ^(AF)had done, and Amon sacrificed to all ^(AG)the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. ²³ Moreover, he did not humble himself before the Lord ^(AH)as his father Manasseh had ^[d]done, but Amon multiplied guilt. ²⁴ Finally ^(AI)his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house. ²⁵ But the people of the land ^[e]killed all the conspirators against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

Prayer of an Old Man for Deliverance.

Ministers of a New Covenant

3 Are we beginning to ^(A)commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, ^(B)letters of commendation to you or from you? ^2 (C)You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; ³ being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, ^[a](D)cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of ^(E)the living God, not on ^(F)tablets of stone but on ^(G)tablets of ^[b](H)human hearts.

⁴ Such ^(I)confidence we have through Christ toward God. ⁵ Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but ^(J)our adequacy is from God, ⁶ who also made us adequate as ^(K)servants of a ^(L)new covenant, not of ^(M)the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but ^(N)the Spirit gives life.

⁷ But if the ^(O)ministry of death, ^(P)in letters engraved on stones, came ^[c]with glory, ^(Q)so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, ⁸ how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? ⁹ For if ^(R)the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ^(S)ministry of righteousness abound in glory. ¹⁰ For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹ For if that which fades away was ^[d]with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

^12 (T)Therefore having such a hope, ^(U)we use great boldness in our speech, ¹³ and are not like Moses, ^(V)who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. ¹⁴ But their minds were ^(W)hardened; for until this very day at the ^(X)reading of ^(Y)the old covenant the same veil ^[e]remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. ¹⁵ But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; ^16 (Z)but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where ^(AA)the Spirit of the Lord is, ^(AB)there is liberty. ¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, ^(AC)beholding as in a mirror the ^(AD)glory of the Lord, are being ^(AE)transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from ^(AF)the Lord, the Spirit.