2 *Chronicles 33

₁Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for 55 years. ₂He did what the Lord said was wrong, things which the Lord hated. He did the same things as people of other nations did. The Lord had chased those people away so that the Israelites could live in the land. ₃Manasseh built the places_of_sacrifice again that his father Hezekiah had broken down. He built altars for the Baal idols and he made sacred_pillars. Manasseh worshipped the sun and moon and all the stars in the sky and he served them. ₄The Lord said: ‘I want to live in Jerusalem forever,’ but Manasseh also built altars for the idols at the temple. ₅Manasseh built altars in the 2 courtyards of the temple for the sun and the moon and all the stars in the sky. ₆He sacrificed his sons in the Ben-Hinnom Valley. He went to mediums and asked spiritists to help him, and used witchcraft. Manasseh did many things that the Lord said were wrong and he made the Lord very angry. ₇Manasseh made an image and he put it in the temple. Long before this God had said this to David and Solomon, his son, about the temple: ‘I want to stay in this temple and in Jerusalem forever. I chose this city from all the towns and cities of the tribes_of_Israel. ₈I will not make the people of Israel leave this land that I gave their forefathers again, but then they must make sure that they do everything I have told them to do. They must obey all the laws and rules that I gave Moses to give to them. They must do what I decided.’

₉But Manasseh seduced the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do bad things. They did worse things than the people of the other nations. The Lord had chased away those people so that the Israelites could live in this land. ₁₀The Lord talked to Manasseh and his people but they did not listen. ₁₁Then the Lord sent the officers and the army of the king of Babylon to make war_against the people of Judah. The officers put iron hooks in Manasseh's nose and they tied him up with chains and took him away to the city of Babylon. ₁₂Manasseh suffered a lot and he begged the Lord God to help him, and humbled himself before the God of his forefathers. ₁₃He prayed to the Lord and the Lord felt sorry for him and gave him grace. The Lord did what Manasseh asked Him. He let Manasseh go back to Jerusalem and to his land. Manasseh knew that the Lord is God, and He alone is God. ₁₄After this Manasseh built a wall outside the City of David. He built this wall from the Gihon Fountain, west of the valley, to the Fish Gate and around the Ophel hill. He built this wall very high. He also put some of the officers in all the towns of Judah that had high walls around them. ₁₅Manasseh took away the idols, the gods of other nations and the image that he had put in the temple and he broke down the altars that he had built on the temple mountain and in Jerusalem. He threw them away outside the city. ₁₆He repaired the altar of the Lord and he sacrificed meal-offerings and thank-offerings. He said the people of Judah must serve the Lord, the God of Israel. ₁₇The other people still sacrificed at the other places_of_sacrifice, but they sacrificed only to the Lord their God. ₁₈The other things that happened to Manasseh are written in the history of the kings_of_Israel, as well as Manasseh's prayer to his God and the words of the prophets who had warned him when the Lord, the God of Israel, sent them. ₁₉His prayer is written in the history of the prophets, as well as how God was gracious to him, how he sinned and how unfaithful he was. The places_of_sacrifice that he built, the sacred_pillars that he put in the ground and the images that he had made and worshipped are also written about. This all happened before he humbled himself in front of God. ₂₀Manasseh died and they buried him in his palace. His son, Amon, became king after him.

₂₁Amon was 22 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for 2 years. ₂₂He did what the Lord said was wrong. He did what his father Manasseh had done when he first became king. He sacrificed to the images that his father Manasseh had made and he served the idols. ₂₃He did not want to humble himself as his father Manasseh had done. No, Amon did more bad things than his father had done. ₂₄Some of Amon's officials made plans against him and they killed him in his palace. ₂₅The people of Judah then killed the officers who had murdered Amon and the people of Judah then made Josiah, son of Amon, king after him.