Manasseh Reigns in Judah

¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.

²And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

³For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.

⁴Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name.”

⁵In both courtyards of the house of the LORD, he built altars to all the host of heaven.

⁶He sacrificed his own son in the fire,practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

⁷Manasseh even took the carved Asherah pole he had made and set it up in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever.

⁸I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they are careful to do all I have commanded them—the whole Law that My servant Moses commanded them.”

⁹But the people did not listen and Manasseh led them astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.

Manasseh’s Idolatries Rebuked

¹⁰And the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying,

¹¹“Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed all these abominations, acting more wickedly than the Amorites who preceded him, and with his idols has caused Judah to sin,

¹²this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that the news will reverberate in the ears of all who hear it.

¹³I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down.

¹⁴So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies,

¹⁵because they have done evil in My sight and have provoked Me to anger from the day their fathers came out of Egypt until this day.’”

¹⁶Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹⁷As for the rest of the acts of Manasseh, along with all his accomplishments and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

¹⁸And Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And his son Amon reigned in his place.

Amon Reigns in Judah

¹⁹Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah.

²⁰And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done.

²¹He walked in all the ways of his father, and he served and worshiped the idols his father had served.

²²He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.

²³Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his palace.

²⁴But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.

²⁵As for the rest of the acts of Amon, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

²⁶And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah reigned in his place.

Manasseh Reigns in Judah

¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.

²And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

³For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he raised up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. And he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.

⁴Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”

⁵In both courtyards of the house of the LORD, he built altars to all the host of heaven.

⁶He sacrificed his sons in the firein the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

⁷Manasseh even took the carved image he had made and set it up in the house of God, of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever.

⁸I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to leave the land that I assigned to your fathers, if only they are careful to do all that I have commanded them through Moses—all the laws, statutes, and judgments.”

⁹So Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.

Manasseh’s Repentance and Restoration

¹⁰And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they did not listen.

¹¹So the LORD brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.

¹²And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.

¹³And when he prayed to Him, the LORD received his plea and heard his petition. So He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

¹⁴After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and he brought it around the hill of Ophel and heightened it considerably. He also stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

¹⁵He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, along with all the altars he had built on the temple mountand in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the city.

¹⁶Then he restored the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and he told Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹⁷Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

¹⁸As for the rest of the acts of Manasseh, along with his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, they are indeed written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

¹⁹His prayer and how God received his plea, as well as all his sin and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself, they are indeed written in the Records of the Seers.

²⁰And Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried at his palace. And his son Amon reigned in his place.

Amon Reigns in Judah

²¹Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years.

²²And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done.Amon served and sacrificed to all the idols that his father Manasseh had made,

²³but he did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done; instead, Amon increased his guilt.

²⁴Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed him in his palace.

²⁵But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.

Josiah Restores the Passover

¹Then Josiah kept the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month.

²He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD.

³To the Levites who taught all Israel and were holy to the LORD, Josiah said: “Put the holy ark in the temple built by Solomon son of David king of Israel. It is not to be carried around on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and His people Israel.

⁴Prepare yourselves by families in your divisions, according to the instructions written by David king of Israel and Solomon his son.

⁵Moreover, stand in the Holy Place by the divisions of the families of your kinsmen the lay people, and by the divisions of the families of the Levites.

⁶Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your fellow countrymen to carry out the word of the LORD given byMoses.”

⁷From his own flocks and herds Josiah contributed 30,000 lambs and goats plus 3,000 bulls for the Passover offerings for all the people who were present.

⁸His officials also contributed willingly to the people and priests and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officials of the house of God, gave the priests 2,600 Passover offerings and 300 bulls.

⁹Additionally, Conaniah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, as well as Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, officers of the Levites, contributed to the Levites 5,000 Passover offerings and 500 bulls.

¹⁰So the service was prepared; the priests stood in their places and the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command.

¹¹And they slaughtered the Passover lambs, while the priests splattered the blood handed to them and the Levites skinned the animals.

¹²They set aside the burnt offerings to be given to the divisions of the families of the people to offer to the LORD, as it is written in the Book of Moses. And they did the same with the bulls.

¹³They roasted the Passover animals on the fire according to the regulation, and they boiled the other holy offerings in pots, kettles, and bowls and quickly brought them to all the people.

¹⁴Afterward, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, since the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were offering up burnt offerings and fat until nightfall. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

¹⁵The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. And the gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their posts, because their fellow Levites made preparations for them.

¹⁶So on that day the entire service of the LORD was carried out for celebrating the Passover and offering burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, according to the command of King Josiah.

¹⁷The Israelites who were present also observed the Passover at that time, as well as the Feast of Unleavened Breadfor seven days.

¹⁸No such Passover had been observed in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel ever observed a Passover like the one that Josiah observed with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, the Israelites who were present, and the people of Jerusalem.

¹⁹In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was observed.

The Death of Josiah

²⁰After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt marched up to fight at Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him.

²¹But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What is the issue between you and me, O king of Judah? I have not come against you today, but I am fighting another dynasty, and God has told me to hurry. So stop opposing God, who is with me, or He will destroy you!”

²²Josiah, however, did not turn away from him; instead, in order to engage him in battle, he disguised himself. He did not listen to Neco’s words from the mouth of God, but went to fight him on the Plain of Megiddo.

²³There the archers shot King Josiah, who said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded!”

²⁴So his servants took him out of his chariot, put him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. And Josiah was buried in the tomb of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.

Laments over Josiah

²⁵Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.

²⁶As for the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of loving devotion according to what is written in the Law of the LORD—

²⁷his acts from beginning to end—they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

Sing for Joy to God Our Strength

¹Sing for joy to God our strength;make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob.

²Lift up a song, strike the tambourine,play the sweet-sounding harp and lyre.

³Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,and at the full moon on the day of our Feast.

⁴For this is a statute for Israel,an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁵He ordained it as a testimony for Josephwhen he went out over the land of Egypt,where I heard an unfamiliar language:

⁶“I relieved his shoulder of the burden;his hands were freed from the basket.

⁷You called out in distress, and I rescued you;I answered you from the cloud of thunder;I tested you at the waters of Meribah.Selah

⁸Hear, O My people, and I will warn you:O Israel, if only you would listen to Me!

⁹There must be no strange god among you,nor shall you bow to a foreign god.

¹⁰I am the LORD your God,who brought you up out of Egypt.Open wide your mouth,and I will fill it.

¹¹But My people would not listen to Me,and Israel would not obey Me.

¹²So I gave them up to their stubborn heartsto follow their own devices.

¹³If only My people would listen to Me,if Israel would follow My ways,

¹⁴how soon I would subdue their enemiesand turn My hand against their foes!

¹⁵Those who hate the LORD would feign obedience,and their doom would last forever.

¹⁶But I would feed you the finest wheat;with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”