³ For ^(A)he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and ^(B)he erected altars for Baal and made an ^[a]Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he ^(C)worshiped all the heavenly ^[b]lights and served them. ⁴ And ^(D)he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “^(E)In Jerusalem I will put My name.” ⁵ He built altars for ^(F)all the heavenly ^[c]lights in ^(G)the two courtyards of the house of the Lord. ⁶ And ^(H)he made his son pass through the fire, ^(I)interpreted signs, practiced divination, and used mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. ⁷ Then ^(J)he put the carved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “^(K)In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. ⁸ And I ^(L)will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will take care to act in accordance with everything that I have commanded them, and with all the Law that My servant Moses commanded them.” ⁹ But they did not listen, and Manasseh ^(M)encouraged them to do evil, more than the nations whom the Lord eliminated from the presence of the sons of Israel.

The King’s Idolatries Rebuked

¹⁰ Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, ¹¹ “^(N)Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations, ^(O)having done more evil than all that the Amorites did who were before him, and ^(P)has also misled Judah into sin ^(Q)with his idols, ¹² therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears about it, ^(R)both of his ears will ring. ^13 (S)I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean just as one wipes a bowl, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴ And I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoils to all their enemies, ¹⁵ because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.’”

^16 (T)Furthermore, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem ^[d]from one end to another, besides his sin ^(U)into which he misled Judah, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. ^17 (V)Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and his sin which he ^[e]committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^18 (W)And Manasseh ^[f]lay down with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, ^(X)in the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon became king in his place.

Amon Succeeds Manasseh

^19 (Y)Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(Z)just as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ For he walked ^[g]entirely in the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them. ²² So ^(AA)he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. ²³ And ^(AB)the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. ²⁴ Then ^(AC)the people of the land ^[h]killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place. ²⁵ 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 grave ^(AD)in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.

³ For ^(A)he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had torn down; ^(B)he also set up altars for the Baals and made ^[a]Asherim, and he worshiped all the heavenly ^[b]lights and served them. ^4 (C)He built altars in the house of the Lord of which the Lord had said, “My name shall be ^(D)in Jerusalem forever.” ⁵ He built altars for all the heavenly ^[c]lights in ^(E)the two courtyards of the house of the Lord.

⁷ Then he put ^(A)the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, “^(B)In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;

³⁴ But they ^(A)put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. ³⁵ They built the ^(B)high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to ^(C)Molech, which I had not commanded them, nor had it ^[a]entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to mislead Judah to sin.

The Temple Profaned

²⁰ Moreover, they transformed the splendor of His jewels into pride, and ^(A)they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them.

²⁷ And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of ^[a](A)abominations will come the one who ^[b]makes desolate, until a ^(B)complete destruction, one that is ^[c]decreed, gushes forth on the one who ^[d]makes desolate.”

³¹ Forces from him will arise, ^(A)desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the ^(B)abomination ^[a]of desolation.