1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled fifty-five years from Jerusalem. His mother was Hephzibah.
2 Manasseh disobeyed the Lord by following the disgusting customs of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel.
3 He rebuilt the local shrines that his father Hezekiah had torn down. He built altars for the god Baal and set up a sacred pole for worshipping the goddess Asherah, just as King Ahab of Israel had done. And he faithfully worshipped the stars in heaven.
4 In the temple, where only the Lord was supposed to be worshipped, Manasseh built altars for pagan gods
5 and for the stars. He placed these altars in both courts of the temple,