The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 M'nasheh was twelve years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for fifty-five years in Yerushalayim.
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Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he was ruling for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
2 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, following the disgusting practices of the nations whom ADONAI had expelled ahead of the people of Isra'el.
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He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the disgusting ways of the nations whom the Lord had sent out of the land before the children of Israel.
3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hizkiyahu his father had smashed; he erected altars for the ba'alim, made sacred poles and worshipped all the army of heaven and served them.
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For he put up again the high places which had been pulled down by his father Hezekiah; and he made altars for the Baals, and pillars of wood, and was a worshipper and servant of all the stars of heaven;
4 He erected altars in the house of ADONAI, concerning which ADONAI had said, "My name will be in Yerushalayim forever."
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And he made altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem will my name be for ever.
5 He erected altars for all the army of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of ADONAI.
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And he made altars for all the stars of heaven in the two outer squares of the house of the Lord.
6 He made his children pass through the fire [as a sacrifice] in the Ben-Hinnom Valley. He practiced soothsaying, divination and sorcery; and he appointed mediums and persons who used spirit guides. He did much that was evil from ADONAI's perspective, thus provoking him to anger.
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More than this, he made his children go through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he made use of secret arts, and signs for reading the future, and unnatural powers, and gave positions to those who had control of spirits and to wonder-workers: he did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, moving him to wrath.
7 He set the carved image of the idol he had made in the house of God, concerning which God had told David and Shlomo his son, "In this house and in Yerushalayim, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Isra'el, I will put my name forever.
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And he put the image he had made in the house of God, the house of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, the town which I have made mine out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
8 Also I will not remove the feet of Isra'el from the land I assigned your ancestors, if only they will take heed to obey every order I have given them, that is, all the Torah, laws and rulings that came through Moshe."
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And never again will I let the feet of Israel be moved out of the land which I have given to their fathers; if only they will take care to do all my orders, even all the law and the orders and the rules given to them by Moses.
9 M'nasheh caused Y'hudah and the people of Yerushalayim to go astray, so that they did even worse things than the nations whom ADONAI destroyed ahead of the people of Isra'el.
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And Manasseh made Judah and the people of Jerusalem go out of the true way, so that they did more evil than those nations whom the Lord gave up to destruction before the children of Israel.
10 ADONAI spoke to M'nasheh and to his people, but they paid no attention.
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And the word of the Lord came to Manasseh and his people, but they gave no attention.
11 Therefore ADONAI brought against them the commanders of the king of Ashur's army. They took M'nasheh captive with hooks, bound him in chains and carried him off to Bavel.
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So the Lord sent against them the captains of the army of Assyria, who made Manasseh a prisoner and took him away in chains to Babylon.
12 Then, when he was in distress, he began to appease the anger of ADONAI, abjectly humbling himself before the God of his ancestors.
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And crying out to the Lord his God in his trouble, he made himself low before the God of his fathers,
13 He prayed to him; and God was moved by his plea, paid attention to his entreaty and brought him back to Yerushalayim, to his kingly office. Then M'nasheh understood that ADONAI really is God.
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And made prayer to him; and in answer to his prayer God let him come back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh was certain that the Lord was God.
14 After this he built an outer wall for the City of David on the west side of Gichon, in the valley, extending as far as the entrance at the Fish Gate; it encompassed the 'Ofel, and he built it very high. He stationed army commanders in all the fortified cities of Y'hudah.
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After this he made an outer wall for the town of David, on the west side of Gihon in the valley, as far as the way into the town by the fish doorway; and he put a very high wall round the Ophel; and he put captains of the army in all the walled towns of Judah.
15 He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of ADONAI and all the altars he had built on the hill of the house of ADONAI and in Yerushalayim, and threw them out of the city.
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He took away the strange gods and the image out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars he had put up on the hill of the Lord's house and in Jerusalem, and put them out of the town.
16 He repaired the altar of ADONAI and offered on it sacrifices as peace offerings and for thanksgiving; and he ordered Y'hudah to serve ADONAI the God of Isra'el.
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And he put the altar of the Lord in order, offering peace-offerings and praise-offerings on it, and said that all Judah were to be servants of the Lord, the God of Israel.
17 However, the people continued sacrificing on the high places, although only to ADONAI their God.
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However, the people still made offerings in the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
18 Other activities of M'nasheh, his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of ADONAI the God of Isra'el are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
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Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words which the seers said to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are recorded among the acts of the kings of Israel.
19 Also his prayer and how God was moved by his plea, all his sin and disloyalty, and the locations where he built high places and set up the sacred poles and carved images before he humbled himself are written in the History of the Seers.
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And the prayer which he made to God, and how God gave him an answer, and all his sin and his wrongdoing, and the places where he made high places and put up pillars of wood and images, before he put away his pride, are recorded in the history of the seers.
20 Then M'nasheh slept with his ancestors and was buried at his own house, and Amon his son took his place as king.
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So Manasseh went to rest with his fathers, and they put his body to rest in his house, and Amon his son became king in his place.
21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for two years in Yerushalayim.
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Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king; and he was ruling for two years in Jerusalem.
22 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, as had M'nasheh his father. Amon sacrificed to all the carved images that M'nasheh his father had made, and served them.
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He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done; and Amon made offerings to all the images which his father Manasseh had made, and was their servant.
23 He did not humble himself before ADONAI, as M'nasheh his father had done; rather, this Amon kept adding to his guilt.
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He did not make himself low before the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done, but went on sinning more and more.
24 His servants conspired against him and put the king to death in his own palace.
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And his servants made a secret design against him, and put him to death in his house.
25 But the people of the land put to death all those who had been part of the conspiracy against King Amon. Then the people of the land made Yoshiyahu his son king in place of him.
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But the people of the land put to death all those who had taken part in the design against King Amon, and made his son Josiah king in his place.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.