1 Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 55 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
2 He did what the Lord considered evil by copying the disgusting things done by the nations that the Lord had forced out of the Israelites’ way.
3 He rebuilt the illegal places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He set up altars dedicated to Baal and made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh, like Ahab, worshiped and served the entire army of heaven.
4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, where the Lord had said, “I will put my name in Jerusalem.”
5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple, he built altars for the entire army of heaven.
6 He burned his son as a sacrifice, consulted fortune tellers, cast evil spells, and appointed ⌊royal⌋ mediums and psychics. He did many things that made the Lord furious.