Bible Reading April 12 
2 Kings 21:1--22:20
Context21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 1 His mother 2 was Hephzibah. 21:2 He did evil in the sight of 3 the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations 4 whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites. 21:3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just like King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky 5 and worshiped 6 them. 21:4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my home.” 7 21:5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 21:6 He passed his son 8 through the fire 9 and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. 10 He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 11 21:7 He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home. 12 21:8 I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors, 13 provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law my servant Moses ordered them to obey.” 21:9 But they did not obey, 14 and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Israelites.
21:10 So the Lord announced through 15 his servants the prophets: 21:11 “King Manasseh of Judah has committed horrible sins. 16 He has sinned more than the Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by worshiping his disgusting idols. 17 21:12 So this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it. 18 21:13 I will destroy Jerusalem the same way I did Samaria 19 and the dynasty of Ahab. 20 I will wipe Jerusalem clean, just as one wipes a plate on both sides. 21 21:14 I will abandon this last remaining tribe among my people 22 and hand them over to their enemies; they will be plundered and robbed by all their enemies, 23 21:15 because they have done evil in my sight 24 and have angered me from the time their ancestors left Egypt right up to this very day!’”
21:16 Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with their blood from end to end, 25 in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 26
21:17 The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign and all his accomplishments, as well as the sinful acts he committed, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 27 21:18 Manasseh passed away 28 and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzzah, and his son Amon replaced him as king.
21:19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. 29 His mother 30 was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah. 21:20 He did evil in the sight of 31 the Lord, just like his father Manasseh had done. 21:21 He followed in the footsteps of his father 32 and worshiped and bowed down to the disgusting idols 33 which his father had worshiped. 34 21:22 He abandoned the Lord God of his ancestors and did not follow the Lord’s instructions. 35 21:23 Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed the king in his palace. 21:24 The people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they 36 made his son Josiah king in his place.
21:25 The rest of Amon’s accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 37 21:26 He was buried 38 in his tomb in the garden of Uzzah, and his son Josiah replaced him as king.
22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 39 His mother 40 was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath. 22:2 He did what the Lord approved 41 and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; 42 he did not deviate to the right or the left.
22:3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, the king sent the scribe Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple with these orders: 43 22:4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down 44 the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door. 22:5 Have them hand it over to the construction foremen 45 assigned to the Lord’s temple. They in turn should pay the temple workers to repair it, 46 22:6 including craftsmen, builders, and masons, and should buy wood and chiseled stone for the repair work. 47 22:7 Do not audit the foremen who disburse the silver, for they are honest.” 48
22:8 Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe, “I found the law scroll in the Lord’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it. 22:9 Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported, 49 “Your servants melted down the silver in the temple 50 and handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple.” 22:10 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king. 22:11 When the king heard the words of the law scroll, he tore his clothes. 22:12 The king ordered Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, 22:13 “Go, seek an oracle from 51 the Lord for me and the people – for all Judah. Find out about 52 the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord’s fury has been ignited against us, 53 because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.” 54
22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shullam son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the supervisor of the wardrobe. 55 (She lived in Jerusalem in the Mishneh 56 district.) They stated their business, 57 22:15 and she said to them: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Say this to the man who sent you to me: 22:16 “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which the king of Judah has read. 58 22:17 This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices 59 to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. 60 My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’” 22:18 Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard: 22:19 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit 61 and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I intended to make this place and its residents into an appalling example of an accursed people. 62 You tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the Lord. 22:20 ‘Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. 63 You will not have to witness 64 all the disaster I will bring on this place.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.
[21:1] 1 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[21:1] 2 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
[21:2] 3 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[21:2] 4 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
[21:3] 5 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 17:16.
[21:4] 7 tn Heb “In Jerusalem I will place my name.”
[21:6] 8 tc The LXX has the plural “his sons” here.
[21:6] 9 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.
[21:6] 10 tn Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with conjurers.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov), “ritual pit,” refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַעֲלַת אוֹב (ba’alat ’ov), “owner of a ritual pit.” See H. Hoffner, “Second millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967), 385-401.
[21:6] 11 tc Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the
[21:7] 12 tn Heb “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I chose from all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name perpetually (or perhaps “forever”).”
[21:8] 13 tn Heb “I will not again make the feet of Israel wander from the land which I gave to their fathers.”
[21:10] 15 tn Heb “spoke by the hand of.”
[21:11] 16 tn Heb “these horrible sins.”
[21:11] 17 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
[21:12] 18 tn Heb “so that everyone who hears it, his two ears will quiver.”
[21:13] 19 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[21:13] 20 tn Heb “I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab.” The measuring line and plumb line are normally used in building a structure, not tearing it down. But here they are used ironically as metaphors of judgment, emphasizing that he will give careful attention to the task of judgment.
[21:13] 21 tn Heb “just as one wipes a plate, wiping and turning [it] on its face.” The word picture emphasizes how thoroughly the Lord will judge the city.
[21:14] 22 tn Heb “the remnant of my inheritance.” In this context the Lord’s remnant is the tribe of Judah, which had been preserved when the Assyrians conquered and deported the northern tribes. See 17:18 and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 269.
[21:14] 23 tn Heb “they will become plunder and spoils of war for all their enemies.”
[21:15] 24 tn Heb “in my eyes.”
[21:16] 25 tn Heb “and also Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem from mouth to mouth.”
[21:16] 26 tn Heb “apart from his sin which he caused Judah to commit, by doing what is evil in the eyes of the
[21:17] 27 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Manasseh, and all which he did, and his sin which he committed, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
[21:18] 28 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[21:19] 29 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[21:19] 30 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
[21:20] 31 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[21:21] 32 tn Heb “walked in all the way which his father walked.”
[21:21] 33 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
[21:21] 34 tn Heb “and he served the disgusting idols which his father served and he bowed down to them.”
[21:22] 35 tn Heb “and did not walk in the way of the
[21:24] 36 tn Heb “the people of the land.” The pronoun “they” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid the repetition of the phrase “the people of the land” from the beginning of the verse.
[21:25] 37 tc Heb “As for the rest of the things of Amon which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?” Many Hebrew
[21:26] 38 tn Heb “he buried him.” Here “he” probably refers to Amon’s son Josiah.
[22:1] 39 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[22:1] 40 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
[22:2] 41 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
[22:2] 42 tn Heb “and walked in all the way of David his father.”
[22:3] 43 tn Heb “with these orders, saying.”
[22:4] 44 tc The MT has וְיַתֵּם (vÿyattem), “and let them add up” (Hiphil of תָּמָם [tammam], “be complete”), but the appearance of הִתִּיכוּ (hitikhu), “they melted down” (Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh], “pour out”) in v. 9 suggests that the verb form should be emended to וְיַתֵּךְ (vÿyattekh), “and let him melt down” (a Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh]). For a discussion of this and other options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 281.
[22:5] 45 tn Heb “doers of the work.”
[22:5] 46 tn Heb “and let them give it to the doers of the work who are in the house of the
[22:6] 47 tn Heb “and to buy wood and chiseled stone to repair the house.”
[22:7] 48 tn Heb “only the silver that is given into their hand should not be reckoned with them, for in faithfulness they are acting.”
[22:9] 49 tn Heb “returned the king a word and said.”
[22:9] 50 tn Heb “that was found in the house.”
[22:13] 51 tn Or “inquire of.”
[22:13] 52 tn Heb “concerning.”
[22:13] 53 tn Heb “for great is the anger of the
[22:13] 54 tn Heb “by doing all that is written concerning us.” Perhaps עָלֵינוּ (’alenu), “concerning us,” should be altered to עָלָיו (’alav), “upon it,” in which case one could translate, “by doing all that is written in it.”
[22:14] 55 tn Heb “the keeper of the clothes.”
[22:14] 56 tn Or “second.” For a discussion of the possible location of this district, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 283.
[22:14] 57 tn Heb “and they spoke to her.”
[22:16] 58 tn Heb “all the words of the scroll which the king of Judah has read.”
[22:17] 59 tn Or “burned incense.”
[22:17] 60 tn Heb “angering me with all the work of their hands.” The translation assumes that this refers to idols they have manufactured (note the preceding reference to “other gods,” as well as 19:18). However, it is possible that this is a general reference to their sinful practices, in which case one might translate, “angering me by all the things they do.”
[22:19] 61 tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”
[22:19] 62 tn Heb “how I said concerning this place and its residents to become [an object of] horror and [an example of] a curse.” The final phrase (“horror and a curse”) refers to Judah becoming a prime example of an accursed people. In curse formulations they would be held up as a prime example of divine judgment. For an example of such a curse, see Jer 29:22.
[22:20] 63 tn Heb “Therefore, look, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your tomb in peace.”
