New American Standard Bible | ►► |
Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah in Judah 1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
2He did evil in the sight of the LORD according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel.
3For he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had torn down; he also set up altars for the Baals and made [a]Asherim, and he worshiped all the heavenly [b]lights and served them.
4He built altars in the house of the LORD of which the LORD had said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”
5He built altars for all the heavenly [c]lights in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD.
6He also made his sons pass through the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
7Then he put the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;
8and I will not remove the foot of Israel again from the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will take care to do everything that I have commanded them according to all the Law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses.”
9So Manasseh encouraged Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.
Manasseh’s Idolatry Rebuked 10So the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.
11Therefore the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains, and led him to Babylon.
12When he was in distress, he appeased the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
13When he prayed to Him, He was moved by him and heard his pleading, and brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD alone is God.
14Now after this he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, up to the entrance of the Fish Gate; and he encircled the Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put army commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah.
15He also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city.
16He set up the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.
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