| New Living Translation | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. | 1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. |
| 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. | 2He did evil in the sight of the LORD according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel. |
| 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. | 3For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he also erected altars for the Baals and made Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. |
| 4He built pagan altars in the Temple of the LORD, the place where the LORD had said, “My name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” | 4He built altars in the house of the LORD of which the LORD had said, "My name shall be in Jerusalem forever." |
| 5He built these altars for all the powers of the heavens in both courtyards of the LORD’s Temple. | 5For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. |
| 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. | 6He made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. |
| 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. | 7Then he put the carved image of 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 from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; |
| 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.” | 8and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes and the ordinances given through Moses." |
| 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. | 9Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel. |
| 10The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings. | 10The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. |
| 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. | 11Therefore the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. |
| 12But while in deep distress, Manasseh sought the LORD his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. | 12When he was in distress, he entreated the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. |
| 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! | 13When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. |
| 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. | 14Now after this he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the Fish Gate; and he encircled the Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put army commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. |
| 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. | 15He also 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. |
| 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. | 16He set up the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel. |
| 17However, the people still sacrificed at the pagan shrines, though only to the LORD their God. | 17Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places, although only to the LORD their God. |
| 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. | 18Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh even his prayer to his God, and the words of 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 Israel. |
| 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. | 19His prayer also and how God was entreated by him, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and the sites on which he built high places and erected the Asherim and the carved images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the records of the Hozai. |
| 20When Manasseh died, he was buried in his palace. Then his son Amon became the next king. Amon Rules in Judah | 20So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. And Amon his son became king in his place. |
| 21Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. | 21Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. |
| 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. | 22He did evil in the sight of the LORD as Manasseh his father had done, and Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. |
| 23But unlike his father, he did not humble himself before the LORD. Instead, Amon sinned even more. | 23Moreover, he did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done, but Amon multiplied guilt. |
| 24Then Amon’s own officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace. | 24Finally his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house. |
| 25But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah the next king. | 25But the people of the land killed all the conspirators against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. |
| 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. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
|
