2 *Kings 21

₁Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for 55 years. His mother's name was Hephzibah. ₂Manasseh did what the Lord said was wrong. He did bad things like the people of other nations did. The Lord had chased away those people so that the Israelites could live there. ₃Manasseh built the places_of_sacrifice again, that his father, Hezekiah, had broken down. He built altars for Baal and a sacred_pillar, like the pillar that King Ahab of Israel had made. Manasseh worshipped the sun, the moon and all the stars in the sky. ₄He built altars for them at the temple of the Lord. Long before this the Lord had talked about this temple and said: ‘I want you to worship Me here in this temple in Jerusalem.’ ₅Manasseh built 2 altars in the courtyards of the temple for the sun, the moon and all the stars in the sky. ₆He burnt his son and he used magic and witchcraft. He also went to mediums and spiritists. Manasseh did many things that the Lord said were wrong and he made the Lord very angry.

₇Manasseh made an image of Asherah and he put it in the temple that the Lord had spoken about when He said to David and to his son Solomon: ‘I have chosen Jerusalem from all the cities of the tribes_of_Israel. I want you to worship Me here in this temple in Jerusalem forever. ₈I will not let other nations chase the people of Israel out of this land that I have given to their forefathers, but then they must make sure that they do everything I have told them to do and they must obey the laws of my servant Moses.’ ₉But the people of Judah did not listen. Manasseh seduced them into doing bad things. They did things that were worse than the things that the people of other nations did. And the Lord had chased those people away so that the Israelites could live in the land.

₁₀The Lord sent his servants, the prophets, to say: ₁₁‘King Manasseh of Judah has done very bad things. The Amorites who lived in this land before did bad things, but Manasseh did worse things than the Amorites. He also made the people of Judah sin and worship his idols. ₁₂That is why the Lord, the God of Israel, said: “Now I will make Jerusalem and Judah suffer so much that when they tell anyone about it he will be shocked. ₁₃I will punish Jerusalem like I have punished Samaria and the family of Ahab. I will take away all the people of Jerusalem. I will wipe Jerusalem out as someone wipes a bowl and turns it over. ₁₄I will throw away my people who are still left and I will give them to their enemies. Their enemies will defeat them and catch them when they want to. ₁₅I am doing this because they did things that I have said are wrong. They have made Me angry from the first day that their forefathers came out of Egypt until today.” ’

₁₆And Manasseh killed innocent people. Their blood flowed and filled Jerusalem from one side to the other side. He made the people of Judah sin, and they did what the Lord said was wrong.

₁₇All the other things that Manasseh did and his sins are written in the book of the history of the kings_of_Judah. ₁₈Manasseh died and his people buried him in the garden of his palace, the garden of Uzza. His son, Amon, became king after him.

₁₉Amon was 22 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for 2 years. His mother's name was Meshullemeth. She was the daughter of Haruz from the town of Jotbah. ₂₀Amon did what the Lord said was wrong. He did as his father Manasseh had done. ₂₁He lived like his father had done. He served the idols that his father had served and he worshipped them. ₂₂He did not serve the Lord, the God of his forefathers, and he did not do what God wants. ₂₃Some of Amon's officials made plans against him and they killed the king in his palace. ₂₄The people of the land then killed the officials who had killed Amon and then they took Josiah, son of Amon, and they made him king after his father. ₂₅All the other things that Amon did are written in the book of the history of the kings_of_Judah. ₂₆His people buried him in his grave in the garden of Uzza. His son, Josiah, became king after him.