2 Kings 21, 2 Chronicles 33, Psalm 71, 2 Corinthians 3 - NASB - New American Standard Bible

2 Kings 21

Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah

^aManasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 ^aHe did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^baccording to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 3 For ^ahe rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and ^bhe erected altars for Baal and made an ¹Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and ^cworshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 ^aHe built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “^bIn Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 For he built altars for ^aall the host of heaven in ^bthe two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 ^aHe made his son pass through the fire, ^bpracticed witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord provoking Him to anger. 7 Then ^ahe set the carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the Lord said to David and to his son Solomon, “^bIn this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 8 And I ^awill not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh ^aseduced them to do evil more than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.

The King’s Idolatries Rebuked

10 Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “^aBecause Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, ^bhaving done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and ^chas also made Judah sin ^dwith his idols; 12 therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, ^aboth his ears will tingle. 13 ^aI will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil to all their enemies; 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.’”
16 ^aMoreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin ^bwith which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 17 ^aNow the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin which he ¹committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 ^aAnd Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, ^bin the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son became king in his place.

Amon Succeeds Manasseh

19 ^aAmon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^aas Manasseh his father had done. 21 For he walked in all the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them. 22 So ^ahe forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. 23 ^aThe servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. 24 Then ^athe people of the land ¹killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26 He was buried in his grave ^ain the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son became king in his place.

2 Chronicles 33

Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah in Judah

^aManasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 ^aHe did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 3 For ^ahe rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; ^bhe also erected altars for the Baals and made ¹Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 ^aHe built altars in the house of the Lord of which the Lord had said, “My name shall be ^bin Jerusalem forever.” 5 For he built altars for all the host of heaven in ^athe two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 ^aHe made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and ^bdealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. 7 Then he put ^athe carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “^bIn this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; 8 and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land ^awhich I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes and the ordinances given through Moses.” 9 Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.

Manasseh’s Idolatry Rebuked

10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but ^athey paid no attention. 11 ^aTherefore the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with ¹hooks, ^bbound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. 12 When ^ahe was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and ^bhumbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 When he prayed to Him, ^aHe was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh ^bknew that the Lord was God.
14 Now after this he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of ^aGihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the ^bFish Gate; and he encircled the ^cOphel with it and made it very high. Then he put army commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He also ^aremoved the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. 16 He set up the altar of the Lord and sacrificed ^apeace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. 17 Nevertheless ^athe people still sacrificed in the high places, although only to the Lord their God.
18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh even ^ahis prayer to his God, and the words of ^bthe seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are among the records of the kings of ^cIsrael. 19 His prayer also and ^ahow God was entreated by him, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and ^bthe sites on which he built high places and erected the Asherim and the carved images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the records of the ¹Hozai. 20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. And Amon his son became king in his place.

Amon Becomes King in Judah

21 ^aAmon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22 He did evil in the sight of the Lord as Manasseh his father ^ahad done, and Amon sacrificed to all ^bthe carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. 23 Moreover, he did not humble himself before the Lord ^aas his father Manasseh had ¹done, but Amon multiplied guilt. 24 Finally ^ahis servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house. 25 But the people of the land ¹killed all the conspirators against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

Psalm 71

Prayer of an Old Man for Deliverance.

^aIn You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;

Let me never be ashamed.

^aIn Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;

^bIncline Your ear to me and save me.

^aBe to me a rock of ^bhabitation to which I may continually come;

You have given ^ccommandment to save me,

For You are ^dmy ¹rock and my fortress.

^aRescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,

Out of the ¹grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man,

For You are my ^ahope;

O Lord ¹God, You are my ^bconfidence from my youth.

¹By You I have been ^asustained from my birth;

You are He who ^btook me from my mother’s womb;

My ^cpraise is continually ²of You.

I have become a ^amarvel to many,

For You are ^bmy strong refuge.

My ^amouth is filled with Your praise

And with ^bYour glory all day long.

Do not cast me off in the ^atime of old age;

Do not forsake me when my strength fails.

For my enemies have spoken ¹against me;

And those who ^awatch for my ²life ^bhave consulted together,

Saying, “^aGod has forsaken him;

Pursue and seize him, for there is ^bno one to deliver.”

O God, ^ado not be far from me;

O my God, ^bhasten to my help!

Let those who are adversaries of my soul be ^aashamed and consumed;

Let them be ^bcovered with reproach and dishonor, who ^cseek ¹to injure me.

But as for me, I will ^ahope continually,

And will ¹^bpraise You yet more and more.

My ^amouth shall tell of Your righteousness

And of ^bYour salvation all day long;

For I ^cdo not know the ¹sum of them.

I will come ^awith the mighty deeds of the Lord ¹God;

I will ^bmake mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.

O God, You ^ahave taught me from my youth,

And I still ^bdeclare Your wondrous deeds.

And even when I am ^aold and gray, O God, do not forsake me,

Until I ^bdeclare Your ¹strength to this generation,

Your power to all who are to come.

¹For Your ^arighteousness, O God, reaches to the ²heavens,

You who have ^bdone great things;

O God, ^cwho is like You?

You who have ^ashown ¹me many troubles and distresses

Will ^brevive ¹me again,

And will bring ¹me up again ^cfrom the depths of the earth.

May You increase my ^agreatness

And turn to ^bcomfort me.

I will also praise You with ¹^aa harp,

Even Your ²truth, O my God;

To You I will sing praises with the ^blyre,

O ^cHoly One of Israel.

My lips will ^ashout for joy when I sing praises to You;

And my ^bsoul, which You have redeemed.

My ^atongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long;

For they are ^bashamed, for they are humiliated who seek ¹my hurt.

2 Corinthians 3

Ministers of a New Covenant

Are we beginning to ^acommend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, ^bletters of commendation to you or from you? 2 ^aYou are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, ¹^acared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of ^bthe living God, not on ^ctablets of stone but on ^dtablets of ²^ehuman hearts.
4 Such ^aconfidence we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but ^aour adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as ^aservants of a ^bnew covenant, not of ^cthe letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but ^dthe Spirit gives life.
7 But if the ^aministry of death, ^bin letters engraved on stones, came ¹with glory, ^cso that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? 9 For if ^athe ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ^bministry of righteousness abound in glory. 10 For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if that which fades away was ¹with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
12 ^aTherefore having such a hope, ^bwe use great boldness in our speech, 13 and are not like Moses, ^awho used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were ^ahardened; for until this very day at the ^breading of ^cthe old covenant the same veil ¹remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; 16 ^abut whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where ^athe Spirit of the Lord is, ^bthere is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, ^abeholding as in a mirror the ^bglory of the Lord, are being ^ctransformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from ^dthe Lord, the Spirit.

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