2Chronicles 33:1 - Prayer Tents

King Manasseh of Judah

33Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years.H4519H8147H6240H8141H1121H4427H4427H2572H2568H8141H3389

2Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the LORD had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the LORD.H6213H7451H5869H3068H8441H1471H3068H3423H6440H1121H3478

3He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for the worship of Baal, made images of the goddess Asherah, and worshiped the stars.H1129H7725H1116H3169H1H5422H6965H4196H1168H6213H842H7812H6635H8064H5647

4He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the LORD had said was where he should be worshiped forever.H1129H4196H1004H3068H3068H559H3389H8034H5769

5In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars.H1129H4196H6635H8064H8147H2691H1004H3068

6He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the LORD and stirred up his anger.H5674H1121H5674H784H1516H1121H2011H6049H5172H3784H6213H178H3049H6213H7235H7451H5869H3068H3707

7He placed an image in the Temple, the place about which God had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped.H7760H6459H5566H6213H1004H430H430H559H1732H8010H1121H1004H3389H977H7626H3478H7760H8034H5865

8And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors."H3254H5493H7272H3478H5921H127H5975H1H518H8104H6213H6680H8451H2706H4941H3027H4872

9Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the LORD had driven out of the land as his people advanced.H4519H8582H3063H3427H3389H8582H6213H7451H1471H3068H8045H6440H1121H3478

Manasseh Repents

10Although the LORD warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen.H3068H1696H4519H5971H7181

11So the LORD let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon.H3068H935H8269H6635H4428H804H3920H4519H2336H631H5178H3212H894

12In his suffering he became humble, turned to the LORD his God, and begged him for help.H6887H2470H3068H430H3665H3966H6440H430H1

13God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the LORD was God.H6419H6279H8085H8467H7725H3389H4438H4519H3045H3068H430

14After this, Manasseh increased the height of the outer wall on the east side of David's City, from a point in the valley near Gihon Spring north to the Fish Gate and the area of the city called Ophel. He also stationed an army officer in command of a unit of troops in each of the fortified cities of Judah.H310H1129H2346H2435H5892H1732H4628H1521H5158H935H1709H8179H5437H6077H1361H3966H7760H8269H2428H1219H5892H3063

15He removed from the Temple the foreign gods and the image that he had placed there, and the pagan altars that were on the hill where the Temple stood and in other places in Jerusalem; he took all these things outside the city and threw them away.H5493H5236H430H5566H1004H3068H4196H1129H2022H1004H3068H3389H7993H2351H5892

16He also repaired the altar where the LORD was worshiped, and he sacrificed fellowship offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He commanded all the people of Judah to worship the LORD, the God of Israel.H1129H4196H3068H2076H8002H2077H8426H559H3063H5647H3068H430H3478

17Although the people continued to offer sacrifices at other places of worship, they offered them only to the LORD.H61H5971H2076H1116H3068H430

The End of Manasseh’s Reign

18Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.H3499H1697H4519H8605H430H1697H2374H1696H8034H3068H430H3478H1697H4428H3478

19The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented - the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped - are all recorded in The History of the Prophets.H8605H6279H2403H4604H4725H1129H1116H5975H842H6456H6440H3665H3789H1697H2374H2335

20Manasseh died and was buried at the palace, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.H4519H7901H1H6912H1004H526H1121H4427

King Amon of Judah

21Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for two years.H526H8147H6242H8141H1121H4427H4427H8147H8141H3389

22Like his father Manasseh, he sinned against the LORD, and he worshiped the idols that his father had worshiped.H6213H7451H5869H3068H6213H4519H1H526H2076H6456H4519H1H6213H5647

23But unlike his father, he did not become humble and turn to the LORD; he was even more sinful than his father had been.H3665H6440H3068H4519H1H3665H526H819H7235

24Amon's officials plotted against him and assassinated him in the palace.H5650H7194H4191H1004

25The people of Judah killed Amon's assassins and made his son Josiah king.H5971H776H5221H7194H4428H526H5971H776H4427H2977H1121H4427