King Manasseh of Judah

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to rule. He ruled Judah for 55 years from Jerusalem. His mother was Hephzibah. 2 He did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil. He imitated the disgusting things that were formerly done by the people of the nations that Yahweh had expelled from the land of Israel as his people advanced through the land. 3 He commanded his workers to rebuild the shrines for worshiping Yahweh that his father Hezekiah had destroyed because they were not in the place that Yahweh had said they should worship him. He directed his workers to build altars for worshiping Baal. He made a statue of the goddess Asherah, like Ahab the king of Israel had done previously. And Manasseh worshiped [DOU] the stars. 4 He directed his workers to build altars for worshiping foreign gods in the temple of Yahweh, about which Yahweh had said, “It is here in Jerusalem where I want people to worship [MTY] me, forever.” 5 He directed that altars for worshiping the stars be built in both of the courtyards outside the temple. 6 He even sacrificed his own son by burning him in a fire. He performed rituals to practice sorcery and magic rituals. He also went to people who consulted the spirits of dead people to find out what would happen in the future. He did many things that Yahweh considered to be extremely evil, things that caused Yahweh to become very angry.

7 He placed the statue of the goddess Asherah in the temple, the place about which Yahweh had said to David and his son Solomon, “My temple will be here in Jerusalem. This is the city that I have chosen from all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel, where I want people to worship me, forever. 8 And if the Israeli people obey all my commands and all the laws that I gave to Moses, the man who served me very well, I will not again force them to leave this land that I gave to their ancestors.” 9 But the people did not heed Yahweh. And Manasseh persuaded them to commit sins that are more evil than the sins that were committed by the people of the nations that Yahweh had expelled from the land as the Israeli people advanced.

10 These are some of the things that the prophets said many times, messages that Yahweh had given them: 11 “Manasseh, the king of Judah, has done these abominable things, things that are much worse than the things that the Amor people-group did in this land long ago. He has persuaded the people of Judah to sin by worshiping idols. 12 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israeli people worship, say: I will the cause the people of Jerusalem and the rest of Judah to experience great disasters. It will be terrible, with the result that everyone who hears about it will be stunned [MTY]. 13 I will judge and punish [MET] the people of Jerusalem like I punished the family of King Ahab of Israel. I will ◄wipe Jerusalem clean/remove all the people from Jerusalem►, like [MET] people wipe a plate and then turn it upside down after they have finished eating, to show that they are now satisfied. 14 And I will abandon the people who remain alive, and I will allow their enemies to conquer them and steal everything valuable from their land. 15 I will do this because my people have done things that I consider to be very evil, things which have caused me to become very angry. They have caused me to become angry continually, ever since their ancestors left Egypt.”

16 Manasseh commanded his officials to kill many innocent people in Jerusalem, with the result that their blood flowed in the streets. He did this in addition to persuading the people of Judah to sin against Yahweh by worshiping idols.

17 If you want to know more about all the things that Manasseh did, they are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’. 18 Manasseh died [EUP] and was buried in the garden outside his palace, the garden that Uzza had made. Then Manasseh’s son Amon became the king.