2 Chronicles 33

1 Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 55 years in Jerusalem.

2 He did what the LORD considered evil by copying the disgusting things done by the nations that the LORD had forced out of the Israelites' way.

3 He rebuilt the illegal places of worship that his father Hezekiah had torn down. He set up altars dedicated to other gods--the Baals--and made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh, like Ahab, worshiped and served the entire army of heaven.

4 He built altars in the LORD's temple, where the LORD had said, "My name will be in Jerusalem forever."

5 In the two courtyards of the LORD's temple, he built altars for the entire army of heaven.

6 He burned his son as a sacrifice in the valley of Ben Hinnom, consulted fortunetellers, cast evil spells, practiced witchcraft, and appointed [royal] mediums and psychics. He did many things that made the LORD furious.

7 Manasseh had a carved idol made. Then he set it up in God's temple, where God had said to David and his son Solomon, "I have chosen this temple and Jerusalem from all the tribes of Israel. I will put my name here forever.

8 I will never again remove Israel from the land that I set aside for their ancestors if they will obey all the commands, all the teachings, the ordinances, and the regulations [I gave] through Moses."

9 Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that they did more evil things than the nations that the LORD had destroyed when the Israelites arrived in the land.

10 When the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, they wouldn't even pay attention.

11 So the LORD made the army commanders of the king of Assyria invade Judah. They took Manasseh captive, put a hook in his nose, put him in bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon.

12 When he experienced this distress, he begged the LORD his God to be kind and humbled himself in front of the God of his ancestors.

13 He prayed to the LORD, and the LORD accepted his prayer and listened to his request. The LORD brought him back to his kingdom in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

14 After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon Spring in the valley to the entrance of Fish Gate. He made the wall go around the Ophel, and he built it very high. He put army commanders in every fortified city in Judah.

15 Manasseh got rid of the foreign gods and the idol in the LORD's temple. He got rid of the altars he had built in the temple on the LORD's mountain and in Jerusalem.

16 He built the LORD's altar and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it. And he told Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.

17 The people continued to sacrifice at the illegal places of worship, but they sacrificed only to the LORD their God.

18 Everything else about Manasseh--including his prayer to his God and the words that the seers spoke to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel--are in the records of the kings of Israel.

19 His prayer and how God accepted it are written in the records of Hozai. The things he did before he humbled himself are also written there. This includes all his sins and unfaithfulness and the places where he built illegal worship sites and set up idols and poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah.

20 Manasseh lay down in death with his ancestors. They buried him in his own palace. His son Amon succeeded him as king.

21 Amon was 22 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 2 years in Jerusalem.

22 He did what the LORD considered evil, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the idols his father Manasseh had made, and he worshiped them.

23 He didn't humble himself in front of the LORD as his father Manasseh had humbled himself. Instead, Amon continued to sin.

24 His officials plotted against him and killed him in his palace.

25 Then the people of the land killed everyone who had plotted against King Amon. They made his son Josiah king in his place.

2 Chronicles 33 Commentary

Chapter 33

Manasseh's and repentance. (1-20) Amon's wicked reign in Judah. (21-25)

Verses 1-20 We have seen Manasseh's wickedness; here we have his repentance, and a memorable instance it is of the riches of God's pardoning mercy, and the power of his renewing grace. Deprived of his liberty, separated from his evil counsellors and companions, without any prospect but of ending his days in a wretched prison, Manasseh thought upon what had passed; he began to cry for mercy and deliverance. He confessed his sins, condemned himself, was humbled before God, loathing himself as a monster of impiety and wickedness. Yet he hoped to be pardoned through the abundant mercy of the Lord. Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah was God, able to deliver. He knew him as a God of salvation; he learned to fear, trust in, love, and obey him. From this time he bore a new character, and walked in newness of life. Who can tell what tortures of conscience, what pangs of grief, what fears of wrath, what agonizing remorse he endured, when he looked back on his many years of apostacy and rebellion against God; on his having led thousands into sin and perdition; and on his blood-guiltiness in the persecution of a number of God's children? And who can complain that the way of heaven is blocked up, when he sees such a sinner enter? Say the worst against thyself, here is one as bad who finds the way to repentance. Deny not to thyself that which God hath not denied to thee; it is not thy sin, but thy impenitence, that bars heaven against thee.

Verses 21-25 Amon's father did ill, but he did worse. Whatever warnings or convictions he had, he never humbled himself. He was soon cut off in his sins, and made a warning for all men not to abuse the example of God's patience and mercy to Manasseh, as an encouragement to continue in sin. May God help us to be honest to ourselves, and to think aright respecting our own character, before death fixes us in an unchangeable state.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 33

This chapter gives an account of the reign of Manasseh, of his idolatries and impieties, 2Ch 33:1-10, of his captivity, humiliation, repentance, and reformation, 2Ch 33:11-17 of his last end, death, and burial, 2Ch 33:18-20 and of the wicked reign of Amon his son, and of his death by his servants, 2Ch 33:21-25.