Manasseh Reigns in Judah^(A)

33 Manasseh ^(B)was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ² But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the ^(C)abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. ³ For he rebuilt the ^[a]high places which Hezekiah his father had ^(D)broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and ^(E)made wooden images; and he worshiped ^(F)all ^[b]the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ^(G)“In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” ⁵ And he built altars for all the host of heaven ^(H)in the two courts of the house of the Lord. ^6 (I)Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced ^(J)soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and ^(K)consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. ^7 (L)He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the ^[c]house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, ^(M)“In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; ^8 (N)and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers—only if they are careful to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.” ⁹ So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

¹² Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and ^(A)humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, ¹³ and prayed to Him; and He ^(B)received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh ^(C)knew that the Lord was God.