2 Kings 21

1Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Haphsiba.

1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king; for fifty-five years he was ruling in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Hephzi-bah.

2And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the idols of the nations, which the Lord destroyed from before the face of the children of Israel.

2He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the disgusting ways of those nations whom the Lord had sent out before the children of Israel.

3And he turned, and built up the high places, which Ezechias, his father, had destroyed: and he set up altars to Baal, and made groves, as Achab, the king of Israel, had done: and he adored all the host of heaven, and served them.

3He put up again the high places which had been pulled down by Hezekiah his father; he made altars for Baal, and an Asherah, as Ahab, king of Israel, had done; he was a worshipper and servant of all the stars of heaven.

4And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said: In Jerusalem I will put my name.

4And he put up altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

5And he built altars for all the host of heaven, in the two courts of the temple of the Lord.

5And he put up altars for all the stars of heaven in the two outer squares of the house of the Lord.

6And he made his son pass through fire: and he used divinations, and observed omens, and appointed pythons, and multiplied soothsayers, to do evil before the Lord, and to provoke him.

6And he made his son go through the fire, and made use of secret arts and signs for reading the future; he gave positions to those who had control of spirits and to wonder-workers; he did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, moving him to wrath.

7He set also an idol of the grove, which he had made, in the temple of the Lord: concerning which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son: In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever.

7He put the image of Asherah which he had made in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, the town which I have made mine out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever.

8And I will no more make the feet of Israel to be moved out of the land, which I gave to their fathers: only if they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, according to the law which my servant Moses commanded them.

8And never again will I send the feet of Israel wandering from the land which I gave to their fathers; if only they will take care to do all my orders, and keep all the law which my servant Moses gave them.

9But they hearkened not: but were seduced by Manasses, to do evil more than the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.

9But they did not give ear; and Manasseh made them do more evil than those nations did, whom the Lord gave up to destruction before the children of Israel.

10And the Lord spoke in the hand of his servants, the prophets, saying:

10And the Lord said, by his servants the prophets,

11Because Manasses, king of Juda, hath done these most wicked abominations, beyond all that the Amorrhites did before him, and hath made Juda also to sin with his filthy doings:

11Because Manasseh, king of Judah, has done these disgusting things, doing more evil than all the Amorites before him, and making Judah do evil with his false gods,

12Therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring on evils upon Jerusalem and Juda: that whosoever shall hear of them, both his ears shall tingle.

12For this cause, says the Lord, the God of Israel, I will send such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of all to whom the news comes will be burning.

13And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the weight of the house of Achab: and I will efface Jerusalem, as writings tables are wont to be effaced, and I will erase and turn it, and draw the pencil often over the face thereof.

13And over Jerusalem will be stretched the line of Samaria and the weight of Ahab; Jerusalem will be washed clean as a plate is washed, and turned over on its face.

14And I will leave the remnants of my inheritance, and will deliver them into the hands of their enemies: and they shall become a prey, and a spoil to all their enemies.

14And I will put away from me the rest of my heritage, and give them up into the hands of their haters, who will take their property and their goods for themselves;

15Because they have done evil before me, and have continued to provoke me, from the day that their fathers came out of Egypt, even unto this day.

15Because they have done evil in my eyes, moving me to wrath, from the day when their fathers came out of Egypt till this day.

16Moreover, Manasses shed also very much innocent blood, till he filled Jerusalem up to the mouth: besides his sins, wherewith he made Juda to sin, to do evil before the Lord.

16More than this, Manasseh took the lives of upright men, till Jerusalem from one end to the other was full of blood; in addition to his sin in making Judah do evil in the eyes of the Lord.

17Now the rest of the acts of Manasses, and all that he did, and his sin, which he sinned, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

17Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all he did, and his sins, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

18And Manasses slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Oza: and Amon, his son, reigned in his stead.

18So Manasseh went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son became king in his place.

19Two and twenty years old was Amon when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Messalemeth, the daughter of Harus, of Jeteba.

19Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, ruling in Jerusalem for two years; his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

20And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasses, his father, had done.

20He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done.

21And he walked in all the way in which his father had walked: and he served the abominations which his father had served, and he adored them.

21He went in all the ways of his father, being a servant and worshipper of the false gods to which his father had been a servant;

22And forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord.

22Turning away from the Lord, the God of his fathers, and not walking in his ways.

23And his servants plotted against him, and slew the king in his own house.

23And the servants of Amon made a secret design against him, and put the king to death in his house.

24But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon: and made Josias, his son, their king in his stead.

24But the people of the land put to death all those who had taken part in the design against the king, and made Josiah his son king in his place.

25But the rest of the acts of Amon, which he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

25Now the rest of the acts which Amon did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

26And they buried him in his sepulchre, in the garden of Oza: and his son, Josias, reigned in his stead.

26He was put in his last resting-place in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son became king in his place.