1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem . 2And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah , after the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel . 3For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down ; and he reared up altars for the Baalim , and made Asheroth, and worshipped all the host of heaven , and served them . 4And he built altars in the house of Jehovah , whereof Jehovah said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever . 5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Jehovah . 6He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom ; and he practised augury, and used enchantments , and practised sorcery , and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards : he wrought much evil in the sight of Jehovah , to provoke him to anger . 7And he set the graven image of the idol , which he had made , in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son , In this house , and in Jerusalem , which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel , will I put my name for ever : 8neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them , even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances given by Moses . 9And Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem , so that they did evil more than did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of Israel .
Manasseh's Repentance
10And Jehovah spake to Manasseh , and to his people ; but they gave no heed . 11Wherefore Jehovah brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains , and bound him with fetters , and carried him to Babylon. 12And when he was in distress , he besought Jehovah his God , and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13And he prayed unto him ; and he was entreated of him , and heard his supplication , and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom . Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah he was God . 14Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David , on the west side of Gihon , in the valley , even to the entrance at the fish gate ; and he compassed Ophel about with it , and raised it up to a very great height : and he put valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah . 15And he took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the house of Jehovah , and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of Jehovah , and in Jerusalem , and cast them out of the city . 16And he built up the altar of Jehovah , and offered thereon sacrifices of peace-offerings and of thanksgiving , and commanded Judah to serve Jehovah , the God of Israel . 17Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places , but only unto Jehovah their God . 18Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh , and his prayer unto his God , and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of Jehovah , the God of Israel , behold , they are written among the acts of the kings of Israel . 19His prayer also , and how God was entreated of him , and all his sin and his trespass , and the places wherein he built high places , and set up the Asherim and the graven images , before he humbled himself , behold , they are written in the history of Hozai . 20So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house : and Amon his son reigned in his stead .
The Legacy of Manasseh
21Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem . 22And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah , as did Manasseh his father; and Amon sacrificed unto all the graven images which Manasseh his father had made , and served them . 23And he humbled not himself before Jehovah , as Manasseh his father had humbled himself ; but this same Amon trespassed more and more . 24And his servants conspired against him , and put him to death in his own house . 25But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead .