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Reign of Manasseh

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Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ²He did what was evil in the sight of the L ord, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the L ord drove out before the people of Israel. ³For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had pulled down, and erected altars to the Baals, made sacred poles, worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them. ⁴He built altars in the house of the L ord, of which the L ord had said, “In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.” ⁵He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the L ord. ⁶He made his son pass through fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom, practiced soothsaying and augury and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the L ord, provoking him to anger. ⁷The carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever; ⁸I will never again remove the feet of Israel from the land that I appointed for your ancestors, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses.” ⁹Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did more evil than the nations whom the L ord had destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh Restored after Repentance

¹⁰ The L ord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they gave no heed. ¹¹Therefore the L ord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh captive in manacles, bound him with fetters, and brought him to Babylon. ¹²While he was in distress he entreated the favor of the L ord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. ¹³He prayed to him, and God received his entreaty, heard his plea, and restored him again to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the L ord indeed was God.

¹⁴ Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of Gihon, in the valley, reaching the entrance at the Fish Gate; he carried it around Ophel, and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah. ¹⁵He took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the L ord, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the L ord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them out of the city. ¹⁶He also restored the altar of the L ord and offered on it sacrifices of well-being and of thanksgiving; and he commanded Judah to serve the L ord the God of Israel. ¹⁷The people, however, still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the L ord their God.

Death of Manasseh

¹⁸ Now 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 L ord God of Israel, these are in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁹His prayer, and how God received his entreaty, all his sin and his faithlessness, the sites on which he built high places and set up the sacred poles and the images, before he humbled himself, these are written in the records of the seers. ²⁰So Manasseh slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in his house. His son Amon succeeded him.

Amon’s Reign and Death

²¹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned two years in Jerusalem. ²²He did what was evil in the sight of the L ord, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that his father Manasseh had made, and served them. ²³He did not humble himself before the L ord, as his father Manasseh had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred more and more guilt. ²⁴His servants conspired against him and killed him in his house. ²⁵But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon; and the people of the land made his son Josiah king to succeed him.