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.

^21 (A)And they *compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and ^(B)Rufus), to carry His cross.

The Crucifixion

^22 (C)Then they *brought Him to the place ^(D)Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. ²³ And they tried to give Him ^(E)wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. ²⁴ And they *crucified Him, and *^(F)divided up His garments among themselves, casting ^[a]lots for them to decide ^[b]what each man would take. ²⁵ Now it was the ^[c](G)third hour ^[d]when they crucified Him. ²⁶ The inscription of the charge against Him ^[e]read, “^(H)THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

²⁷ And they *crucified two ^[f]rebels with Him, one on His right and one on His left.^{[g] 29} Those passing by were ^[h]hurling abuse at Him, ^(I)shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to ^(J)destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰ save Yourself by coming down from the cross!” ³¹ In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “^(K)He saved others; ^[i]He cannot save Himself! ³² Let this Christ, ^(L)the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” ^(M)Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

^33 (N)When the ^[j](O)sixth hour came, darkness ^[k]fell over the whole land until the ^[l](P)ninth hour. ³⁴ At the ^[m](Q)ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “^(R)Eloi, Eloi, lema sabaktanei?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ³⁵ And when some of the bystanders heard Him, they began saying, “Look! He is calling for Elijah!” ³⁶ And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “^[n]Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.” ^37 (S)But Jesus let out a loud cry, and ^[o]died. ^38 (T)And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ^39 (U)And when the centurion, who was standing ^[p]right in front of Him, saw that He ^[q]died in this way, he said, “Truly this Man was ^[r]the Son of God!”

^40 (V)Now there were also some women watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of ^[s]James ^(W)the ^[t]Less and Joses, and ^(X)Salome. ⁴¹ When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and ^(Y)serve Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

^42 (Z)When evening had already come, since it was ^(AA)the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea came, a ^(AB)prominent member of the Council, who was himself also ^(AC)waiting for the kingdom of God; and he ^(AD)gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. ⁴⁵ And after learning this from ^(AE)the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been cut out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. ^47 (AF)Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching to see where He was laid.