¹² For this is what the Lord says:

¹⁷ “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards,^[ae] those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice^[af]—they will all be destroyed together,”^[ag] says the Lord. ¹⁸ “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming^[ah] to gather all the nations and ethnic groups;^[ai] they will come and witness my splendor. ¹⁹ I will perform a mighty act among them^[aj] and then send some of those who remain to the nations—to Tarshish, Pul,^[ak] Lud^[al] (known for its archers^[am]), Tubal, Javan,^[an] and to the distant coastlands^[ao] that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. ²⁰ They will bring back all your countrymen^[ap] from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them^[aq] on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels^[ar] to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers. ²¹ And I will choose some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord. ²² “For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain. ²³ From one month^[as] to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people^[at] will come to worship me,”^[au] says the Lord. ²⁴ “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die,^[av] and the fire that consumes them will not die out.^[aw] All people will find the sight abhorrent.”^[ax]

Manasseh’s Reign over Judah

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother^[a] was Hephzibah. ² He did evil in the sight of^[b] the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations^[c] whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. ³ He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just as King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky^[d] and worshiped^[e] them. ⁴ He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my home.”^{[f] 5} In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. ⁶ He passed his son^[g] through the fire^[h] and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it.^[i] He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.^{[j] 7} He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.^{[k] 8} I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors,^[l] provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law my servant Moses ordered them to obey.” ⁹ But they did not obey,^[m] and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Israelites.

¹⁰ So the Lord announced through^[n] his servants the prophets: ¹¹ “King Manasseh of Judah has committed horrible sins.^[o] He has sinned more than the Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by worshiping his disgusting idols.^{[p] 12} So this is what the Lord God of Israel has said, ‘I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it.^{[q] 13} I will destroy Jerusalem the same way I did Samaria and the dynasty of Ahab.^[r] I will wipe Jerusalem clean, just as one wipes a plate on both sides.^{[s] 14} I will abandon this last remaining tribe among my people^[t] and hand them over to their enemies; they will be plundered and robbed by all their enemies,^{[u] 15} because they have done evil in my sight^[v] and have angered me from the time their ancestors left Egypt right up to this very day!’”

¹⁶ Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with their blood from end to end,^[w] in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord.^[x]

¹⁷ The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign and all his accomplishments, as well as the sinful acts he committed, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.^[y]

Manasseh’s Reign

33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ² He did evil in the sight of^[a] the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations^[b] whom the Lord drove out ahead of the Israelites. ³ He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky^[c] and worshiped^[d] them. ⁴ He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my permanent home.”^{[e] 5} In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. ⁶ He passed his sons through the fire^[f] in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it.^[g] He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord and angered him.^{[h] 7} He put an idolatrous image he had made in God’s temple, about which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.^{[i] 8} I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors,^[j] provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law, the rules and regulations given through Moses.” ⁹ But Manasseh misled the people of^[k] Judah and the residents of Jerusalem so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.

Psalm 82^[a]

A psalm of Asaph.

¹⁰ The Lord confronted^[a] Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. ¹¹ So the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They seized Manasseh, put hooks in his nose,^[b] bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away to Babylon. ¹² In his pain^[c] Manasseh^[d] asked the Lord his God for mercy^[e] and truly^[f] humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.^{[g] 13} When he prayed to the Lord,^[h] the Lord^[i] responded to him^[j] and answered favorably^[k] his cry for mercy. The Lord^[l] brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh realized that the Lord is the true God.

¹⁴ After this Manasseh^[m] built up the outer wall of the City of David^[n] on the west side of the Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate and all around the terrace; he made it much higher. He placed army officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.

¹⁵ He removed the foreign gods and images from the Lord’s temple and all the altars he had built on the hill of the Lord’s temple and in Jerusalem; he threw them outside the city. ¹⁶ He erected the altar of the Lord and offered on it peace offerings and thank offerings. He told the people of^[o] Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁷ However, the people continued to offer sacrifices at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

¹⁸ The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the prophets^[p] spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, are recorded^[q] in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁹ The Annals of the Prophets include his prayer, give an account of how the Lord responded to it, record all his sins and unfaithful acts, and identify the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself.^[r]

¹⁸ Manasseh passed away^[a] and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzzah, and his son Amon replaced him as king.

Amon’s Reign over Judah

¹⁹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. His mother^[b] was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah. ²⁰ He did evil in the sight of^[c] the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ He followed in the footsteps of his father^[d] and worshiped and bowed down to the disgusting idols^[e] that his father had worshiped.^{[f] 22} He abandoned the Lord, God of his ancestors, and did not follow the Lord’s instructions.^{[g] 23} Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed the king in his palace. ²⁴ The people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they^[h] made his son Josiah king in his place.

²⁵ The rest of Amon’s accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.^{[i] 26} He was buried^[j] in his tomb in the garden of Uzzah, and his son Josiah replaced him as king.

²⁰ Manasseh passed away^[a] and was buried in his palace. His son Amon replaced him as king.

Amon’s Reign

²¹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. ²² He did evil in the sight of^[b] the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon offered sacrifices to all the idols his father Manasseh had made, and worshiped^[c] them. ²³ He did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done.^[d] Amon was guilty of great sin.^{[e] 24} His servants conspired against him and killed him in his palace. ²⁵ The people of the land executed all who had conspired against King Amon, and they^[f] made his son Josiah king in his place.

Josiah Repents

22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother^[a] was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath. ² He did what the Lord approved^[b] and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps;^[c] he did not deviate to the right or the left.