2 Chronicles 33 - Summary

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king and reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem, doing evil by rebuilding the high places Hezekiah had destroyed, erecting altars for the Baals and Asherim, worshiping the starry host, building pagan altars in the temple courts, sacrificing his children in fire, and practicing sorcery and divination, provoking the Lord to anger more than any predecessor. The Lord spoke through His prophets, but Manasseh and the people refused to listen, so the Assyrian army captured him with hooks and bronze chains and took him to Babylon where, in his affliction, he humbled himself greatly and prayed; the Lord heard him and restored him to Jerusalem, and Manasseh knew that the Lord is God. He then removed the foreign gods and idol from the temple, cleared away the pagan altars, restored the Lord's altar with sacrifices, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord, though the people still sacrificed at high places but only to the Lord; his son Amon succeeded him but reigned only two years in evil before his servants assassinated him, and the people made Josiah king.