2 Chronicles 33

Manasseh Reigns in Judah// 2 Kings 21:1–9

¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. ²And he did evil in the sight of Yahweh by following the abominations of the nations that Yahweh had driven out before the Israelites. ³For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he raised up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. And he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.

• 2CH 33:1[NOTE]MANASSEH. See the Big Question pages Manasseh in 2 Kings, for his evil and why Judah still fell.
• 2CH 33:2[DEMONIC]Manasseh builds Baal altars inside God's temple

⁴Manasseh also built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” ⁵In both courtyards of the house of Yahweh, he built altars to all the host of heaven. ⁶He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of Yahweh, provoking Him to anger.

• 2CH 33:6[DEMONIC]Manasseh practiced sorcery and consulted mediums
• 2CH 33:6[NOTE]CHILD SACRIFICE. Manasseh burned his sons in the same valley as his grandfather Ahaz, 28:3. Later its name, Gehinnom, became a word for hell.

⁷Manasseh even took the carved image he had made and set it up in the house of God, of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever. ⁸I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to leave the land that I assigned to your fathers, if only they are careful to do all that I have commanded them through Moses—all the laws, statutes, and judgments.”

• 2CH 33:7[DEMONIC]Manasseh sets a carved idol in God's house

⁹So Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that Yahweh had destroyed before the Israelites.

Manasseh’s Repentance and Restoration// 2 Kings 21:10–18

¹⁰And Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they did not listen. ¹¹So Yahweh brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. ¹²And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of Yahweh his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers. ¹³And when he prayed to Him, Yahweh received his plea and heard his petition. So He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Yahweh is God.

• 2CH 33:11[NOTE]TO BABYLON. Assyrian records name Manasseh. See the Manasseh in Assyria's Records Field Notes page in 2 Kings, and the Big Question pages Manasseh's Repentance.

¹⁴After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and he brought it around the hill of Ophel and heightened it considerably. He also stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

¹⁵He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of Yahweh, along with all the altars he had built on the temple mount and in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the city. ¹⁶Then he restored the altar of Yahweh and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and he told Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹⁷Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to Yahweh their God.

• 2CH 33:15[DEMONIC]Manasseh throws the idols out of the temple

¹⁸As for the rest of the acts of Manasseh, along with his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, they are indeed written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁹His prayer and how God received his plea, as well as all his sin and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself, they are indeed written in the Records of the Seers. ²⁰And Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried at his palace. And his son Amon reigned in his place.

• 2CH 33:19[DEMONIC]The record of Manasseh's idols and his repentance

Amon Reigns in Judah// 2 Kings 21:19–26

²¹Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. ²²And he did evil in the sight of Yahweh, as his father Manasseh had done.

Amon served and sacrificed to all the idols that his father Manasseh had made, ²³but he did not humble himself before Yahweh as his father Manasseh had done; instead, Amon increased his guilt.

• 2CH 33:22[DEMONIC]Amon worships all the idols his father made

²⁴Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed him in his palace. ²⁵But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.