6-7. and even set up a stone image of a foreign god. Manasseh practised magic and witchcraft; he asked fortune-tellers for advice and sacrificed his own sons in Hinnom Valley. He did many other sinful things and made the Lord very angry.Years ago, God had told David and Solomon:Jerusalem is the place I prefer above all others in Israel. It belongs to me, and there in the temple I will be worshipped for ever.
8. If my people will faithfully obey all the laws and teaching I gave to my servant Moses, I will never again force them to leave the land I gave to their ancestors.
9. But the people of Judah and Jerusalem listened to Manasseh and did even more sinful things than the nations the Lord had wiped out.
10. The Lord tried to warn Manasseh and the people about their sins, but they ignored the warning.
11. So he let Assyrian army commanders invade Judah and capture Manasseh. They put a hook in his nose and tied him up in chains, and they took him to Babylon.
12. While Manasseh was held captive there, he asked the Lord God to forgive him and to help him.
13. The Lord listened to Manasseh's prayer and saw how sorry he was, and so he let him go back to Jerusalem and rule as king. Manasseh knew from then on that the Lord was God.
14. Later, Manasseh rebuilt the eastern section of Jerusalem's outer wall and made it taller. This section went from Gihon Valley north to Fish Gate and around the part of the city called Mount Ophel. He also assigned army officers to each of the fortified cities in Judah.