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2 Kings 21:1-18
New English Translation

Manasseh’s Reign over Judah

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother[a] was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the sight of[b] the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations[c] whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just as King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky[d] and worshiped[e] them. 4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my home.”[f] 5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 6 He passed his son[g] through the fire[h] and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it.[i] He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.[j] 7 He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.[k] 8 I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors,[l] provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law my servant Moses ordered them to obey.” 9 But they did not obey,[m] and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Israelites.

10 So the Lord announced through[n] his servants the prophets: 11 “King Manasseh of Judah has committed horrible sins.[o] He has sinned more than the Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by worshiping his disgusting idols.[p] 12 So this is what the Lord God of Israel has said, ‘I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it.[q] 13 I will destroy Jerusalem the same way I did Samaria and the dynasty of Ahab.[r] I will wipe Jerusalem clean, just as one wipes a plate on both sides.[s] 14 I will abandon this last remaining tribe among my people[t] and hand them over to their enemies; they will be plundered and robbed by all their enemies,[u] 15 because they have done evil in my sight[v] and have angered me from the time their ancestors left Egypt right up to this very day!’”

16 Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with their blood from end to end,[w] in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord.[x]

17 The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign and all his accomplishments, as well as the sinful acts he committed, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[y] 18 Manasseh passed away[z] and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzzah, and his son Amon replaced him as king.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 21:1 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
  2. 2 Kings 21:2 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  3. 2 Kings 21:2 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
  4. 2 Kings 21:3 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 17:16.
  5. 2 Kings 21:3 tn Or “served.”
  6. 2 Kings 21:4 tn Heb “In Jerusalem I will place my name.”
  7. 2 Kings 21:6 tc The LXX has the plural “his sons” here.
  8. 2 Kings 21:6 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.
  9. 2 Kings 21:6 tn Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with conjurers.” The Hebrew אוֹב (ʾov), “ritual pit,” refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַעֲלַת אוֹב (baʿalat ʾov), “owner of a ritual pit.” See H. Hoffner, “Second millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew, ʾÔḆ” JBL 86 (1967), 385-401.
  10. 2 Kings 21:6 tc Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix (“him”) has been accidentally omitted in the MT by haplography (note the vav that immediately follows).
  11. 2 Kings 21:7 tn Heb “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I chose from all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name perpetually (or perhaps “forever”).”
  12. 2 Kings 21:8 tn Heb “I will not again make the feet of Israel wander from the land which I gave to their fathers.”
  13. 2 Kings 21:9 tn Heb “listen.”
  14. 2 Kings 21:10 tn Heb “spoke by the hand of.”
  15. 2 Kings 21:11 tn Heb “these horrible sins.”
  16. 2 Kings 21:11 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
  17. 2 Kings 21:12 tn Heb “so that everyone who hears it, his two ears will quiver.”
  18. 2 Kings 21:13 tn Heb “I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab.” The measuring line and plumb line are normally used in building a structure, not tearing it down. But here they are used ironically as metaphors of judgment, emphasizing that he will give careful attention to the task of judgment.
  19. 2 Kings 21:13 tn Heb “just as one wipes a plate, wiping and turning [it] on its face.” The word picture emphasizes how thoroughly the Lord will judge the city.
  20. 2 Kings 21:14 tn Heb “the remnant of my inheritance.” In this context the Lord’s remnant is the tribe of Judah, which had been preserved when the Assyrians conquered and deported the northern tribes. See 17:18 and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 269.
  21. 2 Kings 21:14 tn Heb “they will become plunder and spoils of war for all their enemies.”
  22. 2 Kings 21:15 tn Heb “in my eyes.”
  23. 2 Kings 21:16 tn Heb “and also Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem from mouth to mouth.”
  24. 2 Kings 21:16 tn Heb “apart from his sin which he caused Judah to commit, by doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.”
  25. 2 Kings 21:17 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin which he committed, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
  26. 2 Kings 21:18 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
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2 Kings 21:1-18
Expanded Bible

Manasseh King of Judah(A)

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he ·was king [reigned] fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 He did ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. He did the ·hateful things [detestable/abominable practices] the other nations had done—the nations that the Lord had ·forced [driven] out of the land ahead of the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel]. 3 Manasseh’s father, Hezekiah, had destroyed the ·places where gods were worshiped [L high places; 12:3], but Manasseh rebuilt them. He built altars for Baal, and he made an Asherah ·idol [pole; C a sacred tree or pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah; 13:6] as Ahab king of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped all the ·stars of the sky [hosts of heaven] and served them. 4 The Lord had said about the ·Temple [L house], “I will ·be worshiped [L put my name] in Jerusalem,” but Manasseh built altars [C pagan] in the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. 5 He built altars to worship the ·stars [hosts of heaven] in the two courtyards of the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. 6 He ·made his own son pass through fire [sacrificed his son in the fire; 16:3]. He practiced ·magic [sorcery; soothsaying] and ·told the future by explaining signs and dreams [divination], and he ·got advice from [consulted] mediums and ·fortune-tellers [psychics; spiritualists]. He did ·many things the Lord said were wrong [L much evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord], which ·made the Lord angry [aroused/provoked the Lord to anger].

7 Manasseh carved an Asherah ·idol [pole; C a sacred tree or pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah; 13:6] and put it in the ·Temple [L house]. The Lord had said to David and his son Solomon about the ·Temple [L house], “I will ·be worshiped [L put my name] forever in this ·Temple [L house] and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. 8 I will never again make the ·Israelites [L feet of Israel to] wander out of the land I gave their ·ancestors [fathers]. But they must ·obey [observe; do] everything I have commanded them and all the ·teachings [law; L torah] my servant Moses gave them.” 9 But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them to do more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed ahead of the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel].

10 The Lord said through his servants the prophets, 11 “Manasseh king of Judah has done these ·hateful things [detestable/abominable practices]. He has done more ·evil [wickedness] than the Amorites before him. He also has led Judah to sin with his idols. 12 So this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will bring ·so much trouble [such disaster/calamity] on Jerusalem and Judah that anyone who hears about it will ·be shocked [L have tingling ears]. 13 I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line used for Samaria , and the plumb line used against Ahab’s ·family [L house] will be used on Jerusalem. I will wipe out Jerusalem as a person wipes a dish and turns it upside down. 14 I will ·throw away the rest of my people who are left [abandon/forsake/reject the remnant of my inheritance/heritage]. I will ·give them [hand them over; deliver them] to their enemies, and they will be ·robbed by all [the plunder and spoil of] their enemies, 15 because my people did ·what I said was wrong [L evil in my eyes/sight]. They have ·made me angry [aroused/provoked my anger] from the day their ·ancestors [fathers] left Egypt until ·now [today].’”

16 Manasseh also ·killed [murdered] many innocent people, filling Jerusalem from one end to the other with their blood. This was besides the sin he led Judah to do; he led Judah to do ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord].

17 The other things Manasseh did as king, even the sin he did, ·are [L are they not…?] written in the book of the ·history [chronicles; annals; 1:18] of the kings of Judah. 18 Manasseh ·died [L lay down/T slept with his fathers/ancestors] and was buried in the garden of his own ·palace [L house], the garden of Uzza. Then Manasseh’s son Amon became king in his place.

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