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2 Chronicles 33

Manasseh’s repentance and Amon’s refusal to humble himself show the decisive difference in their responses to YHWH.

Manasseh becomes king of Judah at twelve and overturns his father Hezekiah’s reforms, filling Jerusalem and YHWH’s house with idol worship. He leads the people into grave evil, and they refuse God’s warning. Assyrian commanders carry him captive to Babylon, where he humbles himself and prays. God hears him and restores his kingdom. Manasseh then removes idols and restores YHWH’s altar. His son Amon follows his earlier evil and refuses to humble himself; his servants assassinate him.

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1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
2He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, after the abominations of the nations whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
3For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he raised up altars for the Baals, made Asheroth, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served them.
4He built altars in the LORD’s house, of which the LORD said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”
5He built altars for all the army of the sky in the two courts of the LORD’s house.
6He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits and with wizards. He did much evil in the LORD’s sight, to provoke him to anger.
7He set the engraved image of the idol, which he had made, in God’s house, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.
8I will not any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given by Moses.”
9Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
10The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they didn’t listen.
11Therefore the LORD brought on them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
12When he was in distress, he begged the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
13He prayed to him; and he was entreated by him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.
14Now after this, he built an outer wall to David’s city on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate. He encircled Ophel with it, and raised it up to a very great height; and he put valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah.
15He took away the foreign gods and the idol out of the LORD’s house, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of the LORD’s house and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
16He built up the LORD’s altar, and offered sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving on it, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.
17Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places, but only to the LORD their God.
18Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, behold, they are written among the acts of the kings of Israel.
19His prayer also, and how God listened to his request, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places in which he built high places and set up the Asherah poles and the engraved images before he humbled himself: behold, they are written in the history of Hozai.
20So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house; and Amon his son reigned in his place.
21Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.
22He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, as did Manasseh his father; and Amon sacrificed to all the engraved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them.
23He didn’t humble himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but this same Amon trespassed more and more.
24His servants conspired against him, and put him to death in his own house.
25But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.
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Key verses
2 Chronicles 33:11Manasseh’s captivity follows the rejected warning, showing that even Judah’s king remains subject to YHWH’s judgment.
2 Chronicles 33:12In distress, Manasseh turns toward the God he had defied, marking the turning point of his reign.
2 Chronicles 33:23Amon repeats his father’s evil while refusing his father’s humility, making their contrast central to the chapter’s ending.
Where this chapter reaches

2 Kings recounts the same reigns of Manasseh and Amon, including their idolatry and Amon’s assassination, while 2 Chronicles adds Manasseh’s captivity and repentance. Deuteronomy shares the prohibitions against divination and child sacrifice, along with the connection between obedience to God and remaining in the land.

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After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about Manasseh’s actions after God brings him back to Jerusalem?

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How does Amon’s refusal to humble himself shape your reading of Manasseh’s repentance?

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Questions people ask about 2 Chronicles 33

Did Manasseh repent in 2 Chronicles 33?

Yes. In captivity, Manasseh humbles himself before God and prays. God hears him and returns him to Jerusalem. His changed conduct follows: he removes foreign gods and restores YHWH’s altar. The reform has limits, since the people continue sacrificing at the high places, though to YHWH.

Why was Manasseh taken to Babylon by the Assyrians?

The chapter presents his captivity as God’s judgment after Manasseh and the people reject his warning. It names commanders of the king of Assyria as his captors and Babylon as his destination. It does not name the Assyrian king or explain why they took him to that city.

What was Manasseh’s prayer in 2 Chronicles 33?

The chapter reports that Manasseh begged God for help and humbled himself, but it does not record his prayer’s words. Verses 18–19 refer readers to other records of his prayer and God’s response. The account emphasizes that God heard him and restored him to his kingdom.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).