American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
And Jehovah spake to Manasseh, and to his people; but they gave no heed.
Wherefore Jehovah brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh {Or, with hooks}in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
And when he was in distress, he besought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
And he prayed unto him; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah he was God.
Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate; and he compassed Ophel about with it, and raised it up to a very great height: and he put {Or, captains of the army}valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah.
And he took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the house of Jehovah, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of Jehovah, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
And he {According to another reading, prepared.}built up the altar of Jehovah, and offered thereon sacrifices of peace-offerings and of thanksgiving, and commanded Judah to serve Jehovah, the God of Israel.
Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only unto Jehovah their God.
And Jehovah spake by his servants the prophets, saying,
Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, that were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols;
therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.
And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.
And I will cast off the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;
because they have done that which is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.
if my people, {Hebrew: upon whom my name is called.}who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy {Or, your repentance}of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
And even now the axe also lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
And the multitudes asked him, saying, What then must we do?
And he answered and said unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath food, let him do likewise.
And there came also {That is collectors or renters of Roman taxes.}publicans to be baptized, and they said unto him, Teacher, what must we do?
And he said unto them, Extort no more than that which is appointed you.
And {Greek: soldiers on service.}soldiers also asked him, saying, And we, what must we do? And he said unto them, Extort from no man by violence, neither accuse any one wrongfully; and be content with your wages.
If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you.
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem.
And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images.
And they brake down the altars of the Baalim in his presence; and the sun-images that were on high above them he hewed down; and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strewed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.
And so did he in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, {Or, as otherwise read, with their axes The Hebrew is obscure.}in their ruins round about.
And he brake down the altars, and beat the Asherim and the graven images into powder, and hewed down all the sun-images throughout all the land of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem.