Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah in Judah

33 ^(A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for 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 his father Hezekiah had torn down; ^(D)he also set up altars for the Baals and made ^[a]Asherim, and he worshiped all the heavenly ^[b]lights 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 He built altars for all the heavenly ^[c]lights in ^(G)the two courtyards of the house of the Lord. ^6 (H)He also 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 his son Solomon, “^(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 remove the foot of Israel again from the land ^(L)which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will take care to do everything that I have commanded them according to all the Law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses.” ⁹ So Manasseh encouraged 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 So 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 hooks, ^(O)bound him with bronze chains, and led him to Babylon. ¹² When ^(P)he was in distress, he appeased 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 him and heard his pleading, and brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh ^(S)knew that the Lord alone is 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, up 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 in 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 thanksgiving offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁷ However, ^(Y)the people still sacrificed on the high places, although only to the Lord their God.

¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and ^(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 moved by him, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and ^(AD)the sites on which he built high places and erected the ^[d]Asherim and the carved images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the records of ^[e]Hozai. ²⁰ So Manasseh ^[f]lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. And his son Amon 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 for two years in Jerusalem. ²² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Manasseh ^(AF)had done, and Amon sacrificed to all ^(AG)the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. ²³ Furthermore, he did not humble himself before the Lord ^(AH)as his father Manasseh had ^[g]done, but Amon multiplied his 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 ^[h]killed all the conspirators against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.

The Fourfold Hallelujah

19 After these things I heard something like a ^(A)loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,

“^(B)Hallelujah! ^(C)Salvation, ^(D)glory, and power belong to our God, ^2 (E)because His ^(F)judgments are ^(G)true and righteous; for He has judged the ^(H)great prostitute who was corrupting the earth with her sexual immorality, and He has ^(I)avenged the blood of His bond-servants ^[a]on her.” ³ And a second time they said, “^(J)Hallelujah! ^(K)Her smoke rises forever and ever.” ⁴ And the ^(L)twenty-four elders and the ^(M)four living creatures ^(N)fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, “^(O)Amen. ^(P)Hallelujah!” ⁵ And a voice came from the throne, saying,

“^(Q)Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, ^(R)you who fear Him, the small and the great.” ⁶ Then I heard something like ^(S)the voice of a great multitude and like ^(T)the sound of many waters, and like the ^(U)sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,

“^(V)Hallelujah! For the ^(W)Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

Marriage of the Lamb

⁷ Let’s rejoice and be glad and ^(X)give the glory to Him, because ^(Y)the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His ^[b](Z)bride has prepared herself.” ⁸ It was given to her to clothe herself in ^(AA)fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the ^(AB)righteous acts of the ^[c]saints.

⁹ Then ^(AC)he *said to me, “^(AD)Write: ‘^(AE)Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “^(AF)These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰ Then ^(AG)I fell at his feet to worship him. ^(AH)But he *said to me, “^[d]Do not do that; I am a ^(AI)fellow servant of yours and your brothers and sisters who ^(AJ)hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The Coming of Christ

¹¹ And I saw ^(AK)heaven opened, and behold, a ^(AL)white horse, and He who sat on it is called ^(AM)Faithful and True, and in ^(AN)righteousness He judges and wages war. ¹² His ^(AO)eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many ^(AP)crowns; and He has a ^(AQ)name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. ¹³ He is clothed with a ^(AR)robe dipped in blood, and His name is called ^(AS)The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in ^(AT)fine linen, ^(AU)white and clean, were following Him on white horses. ^15 (AV)From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that ^(AW)with it He may strike down the nations, and He will ^[e](AX)rule them with a rod of iron; and ^(AY)He treads the ^[f]wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. ¹⁶ And on His robe and on His thigh He has ^(AZ)a name written: “^(BA)KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

¹⁷ Then I saw ^[g]an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to ^(BB)all the birds that fly in ^(BC)midheaven, “^(BD)Come, assemble for the great feast of God, ¹⁸ so that you may ^(BE)eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, ^(BF)both free and slaves, and ^(BG)small and great.”

¹⁹ And I saw ^(BH)the beast and ^(BI)the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who ^(BJ)sat on the horse, and against His army.

Doom of the Beast and False Prophet

²⁰ And the beast was seized, and with him the ^(BK)false prophet who ^(BL)performed the signs ^[h](BM)in his presence, by which he ^(BN)deceived those who had received the ^(BO)mark of the beast and those who ^(BP)worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the ^(BQ)lake of ^(BR)fire, which burns with ^[i]brimstone. ²¹ And the rest were killed with the sword which ^(BS)came from the mouth of Him who ^(BT)sat on the horse, and ^(BU)all the birds were filled with their flesh.