Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, August 2nd, 2025
the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

2 Kings 21:9

But the people didn't listen. Manasseh led them off the beaten path into practices of evil even exceeding the evil of the pagan nations that God had earlier destroyed.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Influence;   Israel, Prophecies Concerning;   Manasseh;   Rulers;   Thompson Chain Reference - Manasseh;   Seducers;   Temptation;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Kings;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Judah, tribe and kingdom;   Manasseh, king of judah;   Zephaniah;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Amos, Theology of;   Gods and Goddesses, Pagan;   Kings, First and Second, Theology of;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Manasseh (2);   Holman Bible Dictionary - Baal;   Kings, 1 and 2;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Chronicles, I;   Israel;   Manasseh;   Text, Versions, and Languages of Ot;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Manasseh ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Manasseh;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Ha'ruz;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Alliance;   Crime;   High Place;   Seduce;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But they did not listen; Manasseh caused them to stray so that they did worse evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.
Hebrew Names Version
But they didn't listen: and Menashsheh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Yisra'el.
King James Version
But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.
English Standard Version
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.
New Century Version
But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them to do more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.
New English Translation
But they did not obey, and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Israelites.
Amplified Bible
But they did not listen; and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons (descendants) of Israel.
New American Standard Bible
But they did not listen, and Manasseh encouraged them to do evil, more than the nations whom the LORD eliminated from the presence of the sons of Israel.
World English Bible
But they didn't listen: and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the children of Israel.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Yet they obeyed not, but Manasseh ledde them out of the way, to doe more wickedly then did the heathen people, whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.
Legacy Standard Bible
But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray in order to do more evil than the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the sons of Israel.
Berean Standard Bible
But the people did not listen and Manasseh led them astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.
Contemporary English Version
But the people of Judah disobeyed the Lord . They listened to Manasseh and did even more sinful things than the nations the Lord had wiped out.
Complete Jewish Bible
But they did not take heed; and M'nasheh misled them into doing even worse things than the nations Adonai had destroyed ahead of the people of Isra'el.
Darby Translation
But they would not hearken, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations that Jehovah had destroyed from before the children of Israel.
Easy-to-Read Version
But the people did not listen to God. Manasseh did more evil things than all the nations that lived in Canaan before Israel came. And the Lord destroyed those nations when the Israelites came to take their land.
George Lamsa Translation
But they did not hearken; and Manasseh seduced them, and they did more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
Good News Translation
But the people of Judah did not obey the Lord , and Manasseh led them to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced.
Lexham English Bible
But Manasseh did not listen and tempted them to do evil more than the nations that Yahweh destroyed before the presence of the Israelites.
Literal Translation
But they did not listen, and Manasseh caused them to be led astray above the nations that Jehovah had destroyed from before the sons of Israel.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Neuertheles they wolde not herken, but Manasses disceaued them, so yt they dyd worse then the Heithen, whom the LORDE expelled before ye children of Israel.
American Standard Version
But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of Israel.
Bible in Basic English
But they did not give ear; and Manasseh made them do more evil than those nations did, whom the Lord gave up to destruction before the children of Israel.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
But they hearkened not: and Manasse led them out of the way, to do more wickedly then dyd the heathen people whom the Lorde destroyed before the children of Israel.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
But they hearkened not; and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations, whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
King James Version (1611)
But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to doe more euill then did the nations, whome the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
But they hearkened not; and Manasses led them astray to do evil in the sight of the Lord, beyond the nations whom the Lord utterly destroyed from before the children of Israel.
English Revised Version
But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations, whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli thei herden not, but weren disseyued of Manasses, that thei diden yuel ouer hethene men, whiche the Lord al to-brak fro the face of the sones of Israel.
Update Bible Version
But they didn't listen: and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the sons of Israel.
Webster's Bible Translation
But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
New King James Version
But they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.
New Living Translation
But the people refused to listen, and Manasseh led them to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land.
New Life Bible
But they did not listen. Manasseh led them to sin more than the nations whom the Lord destroyed from in front of the people of Israel.
New Revised Standard
But they did not listen; Manasseh misled them to do more evil than the nations had done that the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But they hearkened not, - and Manasseh led them astray to do the thing that was wicked, more than the nations which Yahweh destroyed from before the sons of Israel.
Douay-Rheims Bible
But they hearkened not: but were seduced by Manasses, to do evil more than the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.
Revised Standard Version
But they did not listen, and Manas'seh seduced them to do more evil than the nations had done whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.
Young's Literal Translation
And they have not hearkened, and Manasseh causeth them to err, to do the evil thing above the nations that Jehovah destroyed from the presence of the sons of Israel.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
But they did not listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do evil more than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.

Contextual Overview

1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. In God 's judgment he was a bad king—an evil king. He reintroduced all the moral rot and spiritual corruption that had been scoured from the country when God dispossessed the pagan nations in favor of the children of Israel. He rebuilt all the sex-and-religion shrines that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he built altars and phallic images for the sex god Baal and sex goddess Asherah, exactly what Ahaz king of Israel had done. He worshiped the cosmic powers, taking orders from the constellations. He even built these pagan altars in The Temple of God , the very Jerusalem Temple dedicated exclusively by God 's decree ("in Jerusalem I place my Name") to God 's Name. And he built shrines to the cosmic powers and placed them in both courtyards of The Temple of God . He burned his own son in a sacrificial offering. He practiced black magic and fortunetelling. He held séances and consulted spirits from the underworld. Much evil—in God 's judgment, a career in evil. And God was angry. 7As a last straw he placed the carved image of the sex goddess Asherah in The Temple of God , a flagrant and provocative violation of God 's well-known statement to both David and Solomon, "In this Temple and in this city Jerusalem, my choice out of all the tribes of Israel, I place my Name—exclusively and forever. Never again will I let my people Israel wander off from this land I gave to their ancestors. But here's the condition: They must keep everything I've commanded in the instructions my servant Moses passed on to them." 9 But the people didn't listen. Manasseh led them off the beaten path into practices of evil even exceeding the evil of the pagan nations that God had earlier destroyed.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

they hearkened: 2 Chronicles 36:16, Ezra 9:10, Ezra 9:11, Nehemiah 9:26, Nehemiah 9:29, Nehemiah 9:30, Psalms 81:10, Daniel 9:6, Daniel 9:10, Daniel 9:11, Luke 13:34, John 15:22, James 4:17

seduced: 1 Kings 14:16, 2 Chronicles 33:9, Psalms 12:8, Proverbs 29:12, Hosea 5:11, Revelation 2:20

more evil: Ezekiel 16:47, Ezekiel 16:51, Ezekiel 16:52

Reciprocal: Exodus 32:21 - General 2 Kings 21:11 - above all 2 Chronicles 33:2 - like unto Job 34:30 - General Ezekiel 5:7 - neither have done Ezekiel 13:10 - seduced Ezekiel 16:29 - in the land Ezekiel 16:44 - As is

Cross-References

Genesis 16:1
Sarai, Abram's wife, hadn't yet produced a child. She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, " God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her." Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.
Genesis 17:20
"And Ishmael? Yes, I heard your prayer for him. I'll also bless him; I'll make sure he has plenty of children—a huge family. He'll father twelve princes; I'll make him a great nation. But I'll establish my covenant with Isaac whom Sarah will give you about this time next year."
Genesis 21:1
God visited Sarah exactly as he said he would; God did to Sarah what he promised: Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a son in his old age, and at the very time God had set. Abraham named him Isaac. When his son was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded.
Genesis 21:5
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. Sarah said, God has blessed me with laughter and all who get the news will laugh with me!
Genesis 21:14
Abraham got up early the next morning, got some food together and a canteen of water for Hagar, put them on her back and sent her away with the child. She wandered off into the desert of Beersheba. When the water was gone, she left the child under a shrub and went off, fifty yards or so. She said, "I can't watch my son die." As she sat, she broke into sobs.
Genesis 21:24
Abraham said, "I swear it."
2 Chronicles 30:10
So the couriers set out, going from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far north as Zebulun. But the people poked fun at them, treated them as a joke. But not all; some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun weren't too proud to accept the invitation and come to Jerusalem. It was better in Judah—God worked powerfully among them to make it unanimous, responding to the orders sent out by the king and his officials, orders backed up by the word of God .
Job 30:1
"But no longer. Now I'm the butt of their jokes— young ruffians! whippersnappers! Why, I considered their fathers mere inexperienced pups. But they are worse than dogs—good for nothing, stray, mangy animals, Half-starved, scavenging the back alleys, howling at the moon; Homeless guttersnipes chewing on old bones and licking old tin cans; Outcasts from the community, cursed as dangerous delinquents. Nobody would put up with them; they were driven from the neighborhood. You could hear them out there at the edge of town, yelping and barking, huddled in junkyards, A gang of beggars and no-names, thrown out on their ears.
Psalms 22:6
And here I am, a nothing—an earthworm, something to step on, to squash. Everyone pokes fun at me; they make faces at me, they shake their heads: "Let's see how God handles this one; since God likes him so much, let him help him!"
Proverbs 20:11
Young people eventually reveal by their actions if their motives are on the up and up.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But they hearkened not,.... To the voice of God in his law by Moses, and were not obedient to it:

and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel: he set up more idols, and drew the people into more and greater idolatries, than the old Canaanites; and these were the more aggravated by having a law given to them, and prophets sent to instruct them in it, and by the benefits and blessings bestowed upon them by the lawgiver, which laid them under greater obligations to him; see Jeremiah 2:11.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

During the long reign of Manasseh idolatry in all manner of varied forms took a hold upon the Jewish people such as had never been known before. Compare Jeremiah 7:18, Jeremiah 7:31; Ezekiel 23:37; Zephaniah 1:5. The corruption of morals kept pace with the degradation of religion. Compare 2 Kings 23:7; Zephaniah 3:1-3; Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 5:1.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 21:9. Seduced them to do more evil — He did all he could to pervert the national character, and totally destroy the worship of the true God; and he succeeded.


 
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