Manasseh

1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother's name 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 Hephzibah.

NoteJerusalem was the main city of a small country called Judah. God's temple stood there. Fifty-five years is a very long time to be a king.

2He did what was evil in God's eyes. He copied the awful things done by the nations God had pushed out of the land before Israel came.

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.

NoteOther nations lived in this land long before Israel did. They worshiped many different gods. God moved them out and gave the land to Israel.

3His father Hezekiah had torn down the hilltop worship places. Manasseh built them again. He set up altars for a false god named Baal. He made a tall wooden pole for the goddess Asherah, just like Ahab, a king of Israel, had done. He bowed down to the sun, moon, and stars and served 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.

NoteHigh places were spots on hills where people worshiped other gods. An altar is a stone table for burning gifts to a god. Asherah was a goddess, and people set up a tall wooden pole for her. Hezekiah, Manasseh's father, was a king who worshiped only God. Ahab was a king of Israel, the country just to the north.

4He built altars inside the temple, God's house in Jerusalem. God had said about that place, "I will put my name in Jerusalem."

And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

NoteThe temple was the big building where people came to worship God. Saying "I will put my name" there meant it was God's own special place.

5In both open yards of God's house, he built altars for the sun, moon, and stars.

And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

NoteThe temple building had two open yards around it. People stood in those yards to pray and bring their gifts.

6He put his own son into the fire as an offering. He tried to read signs to tell the future. He used magic spells. He went to people who claimed to speak with the dead. He did much evil in God's eyes, and it made God angry.

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.

NoteSome nations near Judah burned children as gifts to their gods. God's law told Israel never to do that. The law also said not to use magic or try to talk to the dead.

7He had a carved Asherah pole made. He set it up inside the temple. But God had said to David and to David's son Solomon, "I will put my name forever in this house and in Jerusalem. I chose this city out of all the tribes of Israel.

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:

NoteA carved pole is one shaped with tools out of wood. Putting it in the temple meant using God's house for another god.

8If the people carefully do everything I have told them, and follow all the law my servant Moses gave them, I will never again make them wander away from the land I gave their fathers."

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.

NoteMoses led Israel out of Egypt long before this. God gave the people his rules through Moses. Those rules are called the law.

9But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them the wrong way. They did worse things than the nations God had destroyed before Israel came.

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.

10So God spoke through his servants the prophets. God said this:

And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying,

NoteA prophet was someone who told people what God said.

11"Manasseh, king of Judah, has done all these awful things. He has acted worse than the Amorites who lived here before him. He has made Judah 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:

NoteThe Amorites were one of the nations who lived in the land first. An idol is a statue that people bow down to like a god.

12So this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says. I am bringing such trouble on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about 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.

NoteThe King James says that "both his ears shall tingle." That is an old way of saying the news will shock people.

13I measured Samaria for ruin, and I measured Ahab's family the same way. Now I will measure Jerusalem that way too. I will wipe Jerusalem clean like a person wipes a bowl and turns it upside 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.

NoteBuilders use a string and a hanging weight to check if walls are straight. Here those tools measure a city that is going to be torn down. Samaria was the main city of Israel, and enemies had already destroyed it. Ahab's whole family had been wiped out too.

14I will turn away from the few of my people who are left. I will hand them over to their enemies. Their enemies will take everything they own.

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;

NoteOnly a few of God's people were still left by now. Enemies who won a war took everything: food, animals, gold, and clothes.

15This is because they have done what is evil in my eyes. They have made me angry from the day their fathers 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.

NoteIsrael's families had once been slaves in Egypt. God brought them out and made them his own people.

16Manasseh also killed many people who had done nothing wrong. He filled Jerusalem with their blood from one end to the other. He did all this on top of leading Judah into sin and doing evil in God's eyes.

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.

17The other things Manasseh did, and the sin he committed, are written down. You can read them in the record book of the kings of Judah.

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?

NoteKings kept record books listing what each king did. Those books are lost now, so we cannot read them. The writer is telling readers where the longer story was kept.

18Manasseh died like his fathers before him. He was buried in the garden by his own house, the garden of Uzza. His son Amon became king after him.

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.

Note"Slept with his fathers" is an old way of saying he died. Kings were buried near their family. Uzza was probably the person the garden was named after.

26Even so, the LORD did not turn away from his great anger. He was still angry with Judah because of all the wrong things Manasseh had done.

Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.

NoteManasseh was Josiah's grandfather. He was king for many years and worshiped false gods.

27The LORD had said, "I will push Judah away from me, just as I pushed Israel away. I will turn away from Jerusalem, the city I chose. I will turn away from the temple, where I said my name would be."

And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

1While Jehoiakim was king, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, attacked. Jehoiakim had to obey him for three years. Then Jehoiakim turned against him and stopped obeying.

In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.

NoteBabylon was a strong country far to the east. Its king made smaller lands obey him and send him money.

2The LORD sent groups of fighters against Jehoiakim. They came from Babylon, Syria, Moab, and Ammon. They came to ruin Judah. This is what the LORD had said would happen. He said it through his prophets, the men who spoke his words to people.

And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.

NoteSyria, Moab, and Ammon were lands close to Judah. Judah was the small country around the city of Jerusalem.

3This came upon Judah because the LORD said so. He sent them away from himself. It was because of the sins of Manasseh, an earlier king, and all he did.

Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;

NoteManasseh was a king of Judah many years before this. People still remembered the wrong things he had done.

4It was also because Manasseh killed people who had done nothing wrong. He filled Jerusalem with their blood. The LORD would not forgive that.

And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.

1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem:

NoteA king ruled a whole country and made the rules for everyone. Jerusalem was the main city of God's people. Manasseh was only a boy when he began.

2He did what the LORD said was wrong. He copied the awful things done by the nations God had pushed out of the land for Israel.

But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

NoteThe LORD in big letters is God's own special name. The nations God pushed out were people who lived in that land before Israel came.

3His father Hezekiah had torn down the worship spots on the hills. Manasseh built them again. He set up altars for the false gods called Baals. He made Asherah poles, which were wooden poles used to worship a false goddess. He bowed down to the sun, moon, and stars, and served them.

For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

NoteAn altar is a table made of stone. People burned gifts on it for a god. Baal was a false god that many towns worshiped. Hezekiah was Manasseh's father and the king before him, and he loved the LORD.

4He even built altars inside the LORD's temple. But the LORD had said about that place, "My name will stay in Jerusalem forever."

Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

NoteThe temple was God's special house in Jerusalem. It was the one place God chose for his people to worship him. Saying his name would stay there meant the place belonged to him.

5In both courtyards of the temple, he built altars to the sun, moon, and stars.

And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

NoteThe temple had two open yards around it with walls. People stood in these yards to pray and bring gifts.

6He burned his own sons in the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. He used magic and tried to read signs to tell the future. He asked spirits of the dead for answers. He did much evil, and this made the LORD angry.

And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

NoteSome nations killed their own children as gifts to their gods. God had told Israel never to do this. The Valley of Hinnom was a low place just outside Jerusalem. People also used magic to try to learn secrets about the future, and God said not to do that.

7Manasseh took the statue he had carved and put it in God's temple. God had said to David and to his son Solomon about that place, "I picked this temple and this city, Jerusalem, out of all the tribes of Israel. My name will stay here forever.

And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

NoteA statue that people bow to as a god is called an idol. Israel was made up of twelve big family groups called tribes.

8I will never again make the people of Israel leave the land I gave their fathers. But they must carefully obey everything I told them through Moses: all the laws and rules."

Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.

NoteMoses was the leader who brought God's rules to Israel long before this. God had promised the land to their families many years earlier.

9So Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem the wrong way. They did worse things than the nations God had destroyed before Israel came.

So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.

NoteJudah was the southern part of the land of Israel. Jerusalem was its main city.

10The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people. But they would not listen.

And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.

NoteGod spoke to them through prophets, people who told others what God said.

11So the LORD brought the army leaders of the king of Assyria against them. They caught Manasseh with hooks. They tied him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.

Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

NoteAssyria was a strong country far away to the north. Its army was very powerful. Soldiers put a hook in a prisoner's nose to lead him along and shame him. Babylon was a great city that the king of Assyria ruled at that time.

12While he was in trouble, Manasseh begged the LORD his God for help. He bowed himself low before the God his fathers had served.

And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,

NoteBowing yourself low meant showing you were truly sorry. It also meant knowing that God is much greater than you.

13He prayed, and God listened to him and heard him ask for help. God brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.

14After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David. It ran from west of the Gihon spring in the valley to the Fish Gate. It went around the hill called Ophel, and he made it much taller. He also put army leaders in every strong, walled city of Judah.

Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.

NoteThe City of David was the oldest part of Jerusalem. King David captured it long ago. The Gihon spring was where the city got fresh water. The Fish Gate was a door in the wall where people sold fish. Ophel was a hill inside the city. Walls were built thick and tall to keep enemies out.

15He got rid of the foreign gods and took the statue out of the LORD's temple. He also removed all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem. He threw them all outside the city.

And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

NoteForeign gods means statues of gods from other countries. The temple hill was the high ground where God's temple stood.

16He fixed up the LORD's altar again. On it he gave peace offerings and thank offerings, which were gifts to show friendship and say thank you. He told the people of Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.

And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.

NoteAn offering was a gift, usually an animal, burned on the altar. A peace offering said, "I want to be friends with God." A thank offering said thank you to him.

17Even so, the people still gave offerings at the worship spots on the hills. But now they gave them only to the LORD their God.

Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the LORD their God only.

NoteGod had asked his people to bring gifts only at the temple. So even gifts to the LORD on the hills were not what he asked for.