Manasseh's Evil Reign
Study note
Manasseh became king at age twelve and ruled for fifty-five years, the longest reign in Judah's history. He rebuilt the high places his father had destroyed, set up altars to Baal, made an Asherah pole, worshipped the stars, built pagan altars inside the temple, sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced witchcraft, and consulted mediums and fortune tellers. He even placed a carved idol in the temple. He led the people of Judah into worse sins than the nations God had destroyed before Israel.
1 Manasseh was only twelve years old when he became king. He ruled from Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzi-bah.
2 He did terrible things that offended the Lord. He copied the revolting practices of the nations the Lord had driven out ahead of Israel. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
3 He rebuilt the hilltop shrines his father Hezekiah had torn down. He set up altars for Baal and carved an idol pole, just as King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to the stars and worshiped them. For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
4 He even built pagan altars inside the Lord's temple. That was the very place where God had said, "My name will live in Jerusalem." And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
5 He built star-worship altars in both courtyards of the Lord's temple. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
6 He burned his own son as a sacrifice. He practiced fortune-telling and sorcery and consulted with mediums and people who claimed to contact the dead. He did enormous evil in the Lord's sight, driving God to anger. And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
7 He placed a carved idol he had made right inside the temple. This was the place where God had promised David and Solomon, "I will put my name in this temple and in Jerusalem forever. I chose this city from all of Israel's tribes." And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
8 "I will never force Israel to wander from the land I gave their ancestors. But they must carefully follow everything I commanded them. They must obey the entire law my servant Moses gave them." Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.
9 But no one listened. Manasseh seduced them into behaving even worse than the nations the Lord had wiped out before Israel. But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
God's Judgment on Judah
Study note
God spoke through his prophets, declaring that because of Manasseh's wickedness, disaster would come upon Jerusalem so terrible that anyone who heard about it would be stunned. God said he would wipe Jerusalem clean like a dish wiped and turned upside down. He would abandon the remnant of his people and hand them over to their enemies. Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from one end to the other. Jewish tradition holds that Manasseh killed the prophet Isaiah.
10 Through his prophets, the Lord delivered this message: And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying,
11 "King Manasseh of Judah has practiced unspeakable evil. He has outdone even the Amorites who lived here before him. He has dragged Judah into sin with his idols." Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:
12 "So Israel's God says this. I am bringing ruin on Jerusalem and Judah. All who hear of it will be stunned." Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.
13 "I will measure Jerusalem for judgment the same way I measured Samaria and Ahab's family. I will scrub Jerusalem clean the way someone scrubs a dish -- washing it and flipping it face down." And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.
14 "I will disown what remains of my people and turn them over to their enemies. They will be looted and plundered by everyone around them." And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;
15 "This is because they have done evil in my sight. They have made me angry over and over, from the day their ancestors left Egypt until now." Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.
16 On top of his other sins, Manasseh killed so many good people. Their blood filled Jerusalem from end to end. Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
17 All else about Manasseh and his sins is in the history of Judah's kings. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
18 When Manasseh died, he was buried in his own palace garden, the garden of Uzza. His son Amon took the throne. And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
Amon's Short Reign
Study note
Manasseh's son Amon became king at twenty-two and ruled for only two years. He followed all his father's evil ways and served the same idols. His own officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace. But the people of the land killed the conspirators and put Amon's son Josiah on the throne.
19 Amon was twenty-two when he became king. He ruled from Jerusalem for two years. His mother was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz from Jotbah. Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
20 He did what the Lord saw as evil. He followed in his father Manasseh's footsteps. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did.
21 He walked the same path his father had taken. He worshiped the same idols and bowed down to them. And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:
22 He turned his back on the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and refused to live the Lord's way. And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.
23 Amon's own court officials conspired against him and killed him in his palace. And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.
24 But the common people hunted down the conspirators and killed every one of them. They then crowned Amon's son Josiah as the new king. And 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.
25 The rest of what Amon did is written in the official history of Judah's kings. Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
26 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. His son Josiah succeeded him. And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.