⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.^(A)

³⁴ I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”^{(A) [36] [a]}

³⁷ “Where, Lord?” they asked.

He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”^(B)

⁷ and if he rescued Lot,^(A) a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless^{(B) 8} (for that righteous man,^(C) living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials^(D) and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.^(E)

⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world^(A) when he brought the flood on its ungodly people,^(B) but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;^(C)

⁷ For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?^(A) And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

¹² In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled^(A) himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. ¹³ And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.

¹⁴ Afterward he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, west of the Gihon^(B) spring in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate^(C) and encircling the hill of Ophel;^(D) he also made it much higher. He stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah.

¹⁵ He got rid of the foreign gods and removed^(E) the image from the temple of the Lord, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city. ¹⁶ Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings^(F) on it, and told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁷ The people, however, continued to sacrifice at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

¹⁸ The other events of Manasseh’s reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are written in the annals of the kings of Israel.^{[a] 19} His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled^(G) himself—all these are written in the records of the seers.^{[b](H) 20} Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried^(I) in his palace. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.

Amon King of Judah^(J)

²¹ Amon^(K) was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. ²² He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the idols Manasseh had made. ²³ But unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble^(L) himself before the Lord; Amon increased his guilt.

²⁴ Amon’s officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace.

³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”^(A)

⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”^(B)

⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.^[a]”^(C)

⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”^(D)