1. Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king of Judah. And he was king for 55 years in Jerusalem.
2. He did what the Lord said was wrong. He did the hated things the other nations had done. And the Lord had forced these nations out of the land ahead of Israel.
3. Manasseh’s father, Hezekiah, had torn down the places where false gods were worshiped. But Manasseh rebuilt them. Manasseh also built altars for the Baal gods and made Asherah idols. He bowed down to the stars and worshiped them.
4. The Lord had said about the Temple, “I will be worshiped in Jerusalem forever.” But Manasseh built altars for false gods in the Temple of the Lord.
5. He built altars to worship the stars in the two courtyards of the Temple of the Lord.
6. He burned his sons as sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He practiced magic and witchcraft. He told the future by explaining signs and dreams. He got advice from mediums and fortune-tellers. He did many things the Lord said were wrong. And this made the Lord angry.
7. He carved an idol and put it in the Temple of God. God had spoken to David and his son Solomon about the Temple. He had said, “I will be worshiped in this Temple and in Jerusalem forever. I have chosen Jerusalem from all the tribes of Israel.
8. I will never again make the Israelites leave the land I gave to their ancestors. But they must obey everything I commanded them. They must obey all the teachings, rules and commands I gave them through Moses.”
9. But Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do wrong. They did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.
10. The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they did not listen.
11. So the Lord brought the king of Assyria’s army commanders to attack Judah. They captured Manasseh and put hooks in him. They put bronze chains on his hands. They made him their prisoner and took him to Babylon.
12. As Manasseh suffered, he begged the Lord his God for help. He became very sorry for what he had done before the God of his ancestors.
13. When Manasseh prayed, the Lord heard him and had pity for him. So the Lord let him return to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is the true God.