2 Kings 21

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.	1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hephzibah.
2 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, following the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD had cleared out of the way of the Israelites.	2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accord with the idols of the nations that the Lord destroyed before the face of the sons of Israel.
3 He rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He erected altars to Baal, and also set up a sacred pole, as Ahab, king of Israel, had done. He worshiped and served the whole host of heaven.	3 And he turned away. And he built up the high places that his father, Hezekiah, had destroyed. And he erected altars to Baal, and he made sacred groves, just as Ahab, the king of Israel, had done. And he adored the entire army of heaven, and he served them.
4 He built altars in the temple of the LORD, about which the LORD had said, "I will establish my name in Jerusalem"--	4 And he constructed altars in the house of the Lord, about which the Lord said: “In Jerusalem, I will place my name.”
5 altars for the whole host of heaven, in the two courts of the temple.	5 And he constructed altars, for the entire army of heaven, within the two courts of the temple of the Lord.
6 He immolated his son by fire. He practiced soothsaying and divination, and reintroduced the consulting of ghosts and spirits. He did much evil in the LORD'S sight and provoked him to anger.	6 And he led his son through fire. And he used divinations, and observed omens, and appointed soothsayers, and multiplied diviners, so that he did evil before the Lord, and provoked him.
7 The Asherah idol he had made, he set up in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and to his son Solomon: "In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I shall place my name forever.	7 Also, he set up an idol, of the sacred grove that he had made, in the temple of the Lord, about which the Lord said to David, and to his son Solomon: “In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name forever.
8 I will not in future allow Israel to be driven off the land I gave their fathers, provided that they are careful to observe all I have commanded them, the entire law which my servant Moses enjoined upon them."	8 And I will no longer cause the feet of Israel to be moved from the land that I gave to their fathers: if only they will take care to do all that I have instructed them, and the entire law that my servant Moses commanded to them.”
9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh misled them into doing even greater evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed at the coming of the Israelites.	9 Yet truly, they did not listen. Instead, they were seduced by Manasseh, so that they did evil, more so than the nations that the Lord crushed before the face of the sons of Israel.
10 Then the LORD spoke through his servants the prophets:	10 And so the Lord spoke, by the hand of his servants, the prophets, saying:
11 "Because Manasseh, king of Judah, has practiced these abominations and has done greater evil than all that was done by the Amorites before him, and has led Judah into sin by his idols,	11 “Since Manasseh, the king of Judah, has committed these wicked abominations, beyond all that the Amorites before him have done, and also has caused Judah to sin by his defilements,
12 therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'I will bring such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that, whenever anyone hears of it, his ears shall ring.	12 because of this, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will lead evils over Jerusalem and over Judah, such that, whoever will hear of these things, both his ears will ring.
13 I will measure Jerusalem with the same cord as I did Samaria, and with the plummet I used for the house of Ahab. I will wipe Jerusalem clean as one wipes a dish, wiping it inside and out.	13 And I will extend the measuring line of Samaria over Jerusalem, with the scale of the house of Ahab. And I will erase Jerusalem, just as writing tablets are usually erased. And after erasing, I will turn it and repeatedly drag a stylus over its surface.
14 I will cast off the survivors of my inheritance and deliver them into enemy hands, to become a prey and a booty for all their enemies,	14 And truly, I will send away the remnants of my inheritance, and I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And they will be devastated and plundered by all their adversaries.
15 because they have done evil in my sight and provoked me from the day their fathers came forth from Egypt until today.'"	15 For they have done evil before me, and they have persevered in provoking me, from the day when their fathers departed from Egypt, even to this day.
16 In addition to the sin which he caused Judah to commit, Manasseh did evil in the sight of the LORD, shedding so much innocent blood as to fill the length and breadth of Jerusalem.	16 Moreover, Manasseh also has shed an exceedingly great amount of innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem even to the mouth, aside from his sins by which he caused Judah to sin, so that they did evil before the Lord.”
17 The rest of the acts of Manasseh, the sin he committed and all that he did, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.	17 Now the rest of the words of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?
18 Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. His son Amon succeeded him as king.	18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. And Amon, his son, reigned in his place.
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.	19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah.
20 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done.	20 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his father, Manasseh, had done.
21 He followed exactly the path his father had trod, serving and worshiping the idols his father had served.	21 And he walked in all the ways in which his father had walked. And he served the unclean things that his father had served, and he adored them.
22 He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not follow the path of the LORD.	22 And he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and he did not walk in the way of the Lord.
23 Subjects of Amon conspired against him and slew the king in his palace,	23 And his servants undertook treachery against him. And they killed the king in his own house.
24 but the people of the land then slew all who had conspired against King Amon, and proclaimed his son Josiah king in his stead.	24 But the people of the land slew all those who had conspired against king Amon. And they appointed for themselves Josiah, his son, as king in his place.
25 The rest of the acts that Amon did are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.	25 But the rest of the words of Amon, which he did, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?
26 He was buried in his own grave in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah succeeded him as king.	26 And they buried him in his sepulcher, in the garden of Uzza. And his son, Josiah, reigned in his place.