1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2He did what Jehovah considered evil by copying the disgusting things done by the nations that Jehovah dispossessed from before the Israelites. 3He rebuilt the illegal places of worship that his father Hezekiah had torn down. He set up altars dedicated to other gods such as the Baals. He erected 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. 4He built altars in Jehovah’s Temple, of which Jehovah said: »My name will be in Jerusalem from generation to generation.« 5He built altars for the entire army of heaven in the two courtyards of Jehovah’s Temple. 6He burned his son as a sacrifice in the valley of Ben Hinnom, he consulted fortunetellers, and he cast evil spells. He also practiced witchcraft, and appointed royal mediums and psychics. He did many things that made Jehovah furious. 7Manasseh 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 from generation to generation. 8»I will never again remove Israel from the land that I set aside for their ancestors if they will obey all the commandments, all the teachings, the ordinances, and the regulations I gave through Moses.« 9Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that they did more evil things than the nations that Jehovah destroyed when the Israelites arrived in the land. 10Jehovah spoke to Manasseh and his people. But they would not pay attention. 11So Jehovah 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. 12When he experienced distress, he begged Jehovah his God to be kind and humbled himself in front of the God of his ancestors. 13He prayed to Jehovah. And Jehovah accepted his prayer and listened to his request. Jehovah brought him back to his kingdom in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah is God. 14Then 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. He built it very high. He put army commanders in every fortified city in Judah. 15Manasseh also removed the foreign gods and the idol in Jehovah’s Temple. He eliminated the altars he had built in the Temple on Jehovah’s mountain and in Jerusalem. 16He built Jehovah’s altar and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it. And he told Judah to serve Jehovah the God of Israel. 17However the people continued to sacrifice at the illegal places of worship. But they sacrificed only to Jehovah their God. 18Everything else about Manasseh, including his prayer to his God and the words that the seers spoke to him in the name of Jehovah the God of Israel are in the records of the kings of Israel. 19His 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. 20Manasseh lay down in death with his ancestors. They buried him in his own palace. His son Amon succeeded him as king. 21Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He ruled for two years in Jerusalem. 22He did what Jehovah considered evil, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the idols his father Manasseh had made, and he worshiped them. 23He did not humble himself in front of Jehovah as his father Manasseh had humbled himself. Instead, Amon continued to sin. 24His officials conspired against him and killed him in his palace. 25The people of the land killed everyone who conspired against King Amon. They made his son Josiah king in his place.