Chapter 33
Manasseh’s Rule. 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord by following the abominable practices of the nations that the Lord had driven out in favor of the Israelites.
3 Manasseh rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, erected altars to the Baals, made sacred poles, and prostrated himself before all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord about which the Lord had said: “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”
5 Manasseh also built altars for all the host of heaven[a] in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 Further, he immolated his sons by fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, practiced soothsaying, divination, and sorcery, and had dealings with mediums and wizards. Thus he perpetrated great evil in the sight of the Lord and aroused his anger.
7 Manasseh took the carved image of the idol that he had made and placed it in the house of God, concerning which God had said to David and to Solomon his son: “In this house, and in Jerusalem, the city which I chose out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish my name forever. 8 I will never again allow the feet of Israel to be removed from the land which I assigned to your ancestors, provided that they are careful to observe all that I commanded them in regard to the entire law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses.”
9 However, Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray so that they did far greater evil than the nations which the Lord had destroyed in favor of the Israelites. 10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they refused to listen.
11 Manasseh’s Conversion. Therefore, the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They took Manasseh captive with hooks, shackled him with chains, and brought him to Babylon.[b] 12 In his distress, he entreated the mercy of the Lord, his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. 13 After praying to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty. Having accepted his supplication, he restored him to his kingdom in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh fully understood that the Lord is indeed God.
14 Afterward, Manasseh built an outer wall for the City of David, to the west of Gihon in the valley, and he extended it up to the entrance by the Fish Gate and encircling Ophel, raising it to a great height. He also stationed military commanders in all the fortified towns of Judah. 15 Furthermore, he removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, as well as all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he cast them outside the city.
16 Manasseh also restored the altar of the Lord, and upon that altar he sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings, while at the same time commanding Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 Though the people continued to sacrifice at the high places, they now did so only to the Lord, their God.
18 The rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the prophecies of the seers[c] who spoke to him, in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, can be found in the annals of the kings of Israel. 19 His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, all his sins and his infidelity, and the sites where he built high places and set up sacred poles and idols before he humbled himself, can be found recorded in the chronicles of the seers.[d] 20 Manasseh slept with his ancestors, and he was buried in the garden of his palace. His son Amon succeeded him.
21 Amon. Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for two years. 22 He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the idols that his father Manasseh had made, and he worshiped them.
23 Amon did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done. On the contrary, Amon only increased his guilt. 24 His servants conspired against him, and they assassinated him in the palace. 25 However, the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and then they proclaimed his son Josiah as his successor.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 33:5 Host of heaven: the reference is to the astral divinities of the pagan world, and especially of Babylonia.
- 2 Chronicles 33:11 We would expect the name of Nineveh, not of Babylon. Rather than suspecting some confusion, we should see a confirmation of the accurate information of the writer. Manasseh may in fact have gone to Babylon, for it is known that at that period the Assyrian sovereigns frequently stayed in Babylon, in whose fidelity, they had little confidence.
- 2 Chronicles 33:18 The seers: the prophets.
- 2 Chronicles 33:19 Chronicles of the seers: most Hebrew manuscripts read “Hozai,” an unknown prophet. Perhaps the Uzza of 2 Ki 21:18 is meant. The prayer of Manasseh to his God is not the “prayer of Manasseh” that is contained in the extracanonical appendix to the Latin Bible.