| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. | 1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. |
| 2But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. | 2He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations that the LORD had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. |
| 3For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. | 3He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had broken down. He constructed altars for the images of Baal and set up Asherah poles. He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshiped them. |
| 4He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” | 4He built pagan altars in the Temple of the LORD, the place where the LORD had said, “My name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” |
| 5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. | 5He built these altars for all the powers of the heavens in both courtyards of the LORD’s Temple. |
| 6Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. | 6Manasseh also sacrificed his own sons in the fire in the valley of Ben-Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the LORD’s sight, arousing his anger. |
| 7He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; | 7Manasseh even took a carved idol he had made and set it up in God’s Temple, the very place where God had told David and his son Solomon: “My name will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem—the city I have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel. |
| 8and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers—only if they are careful to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.” | 8If the Israelites will be careful to obey my commands—all the laws, decrees, and regulations given through Moses—I will not send them into exile from this land that I set aside for your ancestors.” |
| 9So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel. | 9But Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the LORD had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land. |
| 10And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. | 10The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings. |
| 11Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. | 11So the LORD sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner. They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon. |
| 12Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, | 12But while in deep distress, Manasseh sought the LORD his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. |
| 13and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. | 13And when he prayed, the LORD listened to him and was moved by his request. So the LORD brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh finally realized that the LORD alone is God! |
| 14After this he built a wall outside the City of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate; and it enclosed Ophel, and he raised it to a very great height. Then he put military captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. | 14After this Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, from west of the Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley to the Fish Gate, and continuing around the hill of Ophel. He built the wall very high. And he stationed his military officers in all of the fortified towns of Judah. |
| 15He took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city. | 15Manasseh also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the LORD’s Temple. He tore down all the altars he had built on the hill where the Temple stood and all the altars that were in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the city. |
| 16He also repaired the altar of the LORD, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel. | 16Then he restored the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He also encouraged the people of Judah to worship the LORD, the God of Israel. |
| 17Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the LORD their God. | 17However, the people still sacrificed at the pagan shrines, though only to the LORD their God. |
| 18Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. | 18The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign, his prayer to God, and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel. |
| 19Also his prayer and how God received his entreaty, and all his sin and trespass, and the sites where he built high places and set up wooden images and carved images, before he was humbled, indeed they are written among the sayings of Hozai. | 19Manasseh’s prayer, the account of the way God answered him, and an account of all his sins and unfaithfulness are recorded in The Record of the Seers. It includes a list of the locations where he built pagan shrines and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself and repented. |
| 20So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. Then his son Amon reigned in his place. | 20When Manasseh died, he was buried in his palace. Then his son Amon became the next king. Amon Rules in Judah |
| 21Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. | 21Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. |
| 22But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done; for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and served them. | 22He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, just as his father, Manasseh, had done. He worshiped and sacrificed to all the idols his father had made. |
| 23And he did not humble himself before the LORD, as his father Manasseh had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more. | 23But unlike his father, he did not humble himself before the LORD. Instead, Amon sinned even more. |
| 24Then his servants conspired against him, and killed him in his own house. | 24Then Amon’s own officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace. |
| 25But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place. | 25But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah the next king. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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