Manasseh Reigns in Judah

1 ^jManasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to ^kthe abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places ^lthat his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made ^mAsheroth, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ⁿ“In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in ^othe two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 ^pAnd he burned his sons as an offering ^qin the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and ^rused fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with ^smediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 7 And ^tthe carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, 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, ⁿI will put my name forever, 8 and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land ^uthat I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses.” 9 Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh’s Repentance

10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. 11 ^vTherefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and ^wbound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God ^xand humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 He prayed to him, and ^yGod was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. ^zThen Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

14 Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of ^aGihon, in the valley, and for the entrance into ^bthe Fish Gate, and carried it around ^cOphel, and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah. 15 And ^dhe took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. 16 He also restored the altar of the Lord and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 ^eNevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and ^fhis prayer to his God, and the words of ^gthe seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the ^hChronicles of the Kings of Israel. 19 And his prayer, and how ^yGod was moved by his entreaty, and all his sin and his faithlessness, and the sites ⁱon which he built high places and set up the ⁱAsherim and the images, before ^xhe humbled himself, behold, they are written in the Chronicles of the Seers.¹ 20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house, and Amon his son reigned in his place.

Amon’s Reign and Death

21 ^jAmon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images ^kthat Manasseh his father had made, and served them. 23 And he did not humble himself before the Lord, ^las Manasseh his father had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred guilt more and more. 24 And his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his house. 25 But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

Rejoicing in Heaven

1 After this I heard ⁿwhat seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

3 Once more they cried out,

4 And ^tthe twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying,

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

6 Then I heard what seemed to be ^wthe voice of a great multitude, like ^xthe roar of many waters and ^ylike the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

for the fine linen is ^dthe righteous deeds of the saints.

9 And the angel said¹ to me, “Write this: ^eBlessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, ^f“These are the true words of God.” 10 Then ^gI fell down at his feet to worship him, ^hbut he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to ⁱthe testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

11 Then I saw ^jheaven opened, and behold, ^ka white horse! The one sitting on it is called ^lFaithful and True, and ^min righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 ⁿHis eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are ^omany diadems, and he has ^pa name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in ^qa robe dipped in² blood, and the name by which he is called is ^rThe Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, ^sarrayed in fine linen, white and pure, ^twere following him on white horses. 15 ^uFrom his mouth comes a sharp sword ^vwith which to strike down the nations, and ^whe will rule³ them with a rod of iron. ^xHe will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh ^yhe has a name written, ^zKing of kings and Lord of lords.

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to ^aall the birds that fly directly overhead, ^b“Come, gather for ^cthe great supper of God, 18 ^dto eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,⁴ both small and great.” 19 And I saw ^ethe beast and the kings of the earth with their armies ^fgathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it ^gthe false prophet ^hwho in its presence⁵ had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who ⁱworshiped its image. These two were ^jthrown alive into the lake of ^kfire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword ^lthat came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and ^mall the birds were gorged with their flesh.