Manasseh Reigns in Judah

1 ^xManasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^yaccording to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places ^zthat Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made ^aan Asherah, ^bas Ahab king of Israel had done, ^cand worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 ^dAnd he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ^e“In Jerusalem will I put my name.” 5 And he built altars ^cfor all the host of heaven in ^fthe two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 ^gAnd he burned his son as an offering¹ and ^hused fortune-telling and ⁱomens and dealt ^jwith mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 7 And the carved image of ^aAsherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, ^eand in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. 8 ^kAnd I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful 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 led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh’s Idolatry Denounced

10 And the Lord said by his servants the prophets, 11 ^l“Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things ^mmore evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, ⁿand has made Judah also to sin ^owith his idols, 12 therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster² that the ears of everyone who hears of it ^pwill tingle. 13 ^qAnd I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 15 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”

16 ^rMoreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin ^sthat he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

17 ^tNow the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 ^uAnd Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his house, ^vin the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son reigned in his place.

Amon Reigns in Judah

19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^was Manasseh his father had done. 21 He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served ^xthe idols that his father served and worshiped them. 22 ^yHe abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. 23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house. 24 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. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his tomb ^zin the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

Josiah Reigns in Judah

1 ^aJosiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of ^bBozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, ^cand he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

Josiah Repairs the Temple

3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, 4 “Go up to ^dHilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money ^ethat has been brought into the house of the Lord, which ^fthe keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. 5 ^gAnd let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house 6 (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7 But ^hno accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found ⁱthe Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, ^jhe tore his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and ^kAhikam the son of Shaphan, and ^lAchbor the son of ^lMicaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is ^mthe wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of ⁿTikvah, son of ⁿHarhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in ^othe Second Quarter), and they talked with her. 15 And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 ^pBecause they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore ^mmy wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 ^qbecause your heart was penitent, and you ^rhumbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become ^sa desolation and ^ta curse, and you ^uhave torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and ^vyou shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.

He Heals the Brokenhearted

The First Beast

1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, ^owith ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and ^pblasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was ^qlike a leopard; its feet were like ^ra bear’s, and its mouth was like ^sa lion’s mouth. And to it ^tthe dragon gave his power and ^uhis throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and ^vthe whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^w“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

5 And the beast was given ^xa mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^yforty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,¹ that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed ^zto make war on the saints and to conquer them.² And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all ^awho dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in ^bthe book of life of ^cthe Lamb ^dwho was slain. 9 ^eIf anyone has an ear, let him hear:

^hHere is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The Second Beast

11 Then ⁱI saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,³ and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, ^jwhose mortal wound was healed. 13 ^kIt performs great signs, even ^lmaking fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of⁴ the beast ^mit deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast ⁿthat was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not ^oworship the image of the beast ^pto be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,^{5 q}to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, ^rthe name of the beast or ^sthe number of its name. 18 ^tThis calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number ^uof a man, and his number is 666.⁶

The Lamb and the 144,000

1 Then I looked, and behold, on ^vMount Zion ^wstood the Lamb, and with him ^x144,000 who ^yhad his name and his Father’s name written ^zon their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven ^alike the roar of many waters and ^blike the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of ^charpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing ^da new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. ^eNo one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for ^fthey are virgins. It is these ^gwho follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as ^hfirstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and ⁱin their mouth no lie was found, for they are ^jblameless.

The Messages of the Three Angels

6 Then I saw another angel ^kflying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to ^lthose who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, ^m“Fear God and ⁿgive him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and ^oworship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the ^psprings of water.”

8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, ^q“Fallen, fallen is ^rBabylon the great, ^sshe who made all nations drink ^tthe wine of the passion⁷ of her sexual immorality.”

9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone ^uworships the beast and its image and receives ^va mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink ^wthe wine of God’s wrath, ^xpoured full strength into the cup of his anger, and ^yhe will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And ^zthe smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and ^athey have no rest, day or night, these ^uworshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

12 ^bHere is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who ^ckeep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.⁸

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: ^dBlessed are the dead ^ewho die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, ^f“that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The Harvest of the Earth

14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one ^glike a son of man, ^hwith a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel ⁱcame out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, ^j“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for ^kthe harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, ^lthe angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, ^mfor its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great ⁿwinepress of the wrath of God. 20 And ^othe winepress was trodden ^poutside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as ^qa horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.⁹

The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

1 Then ^rI saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, ^sseven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.

2 And I saw ^twhat appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those ^uwho had conquered the beast and its image and ^vthe number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass ^wwith harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing ^xthe song of Moses, ^ythe servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

5 After this I looked, and ^ethe sanctuary of ^fthe tent¹¹ of witness in heaven was opened, 6 and out of the sanctuary came ^gthe seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright ⁱlinen, ^jwith golden sashes around their chests. 7 And one of ^kthe four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven ^lgolden bowls full of the wrath of God ^mwho lives forever and ever, 8 and ⁿthe sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and ^ono one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.