1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 55 years.
2. Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord.
3. He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for the worship of Baal, made images of the goddess Asherah, and worshipped the stars.
4. He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshipped for ever.
5. In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars.
6. He sacrificed his sons in the Valley of Hinnom as burnt offerings. He practised divination and magic and consulted fortune tellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger.
7. He placed an image in the Temple, the place about which God had said to David and his son Solomon: “Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshipped.
8. And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors.”
9. Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced.
10. Although the Lord warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen.
11. So the Lord let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon.
12. In his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged him for help.