1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 55 years. His mother was Hephzibah.
2 Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord.
3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he built altars for the worship of Baal and made an image of the goddess Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshipped the stars.
4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshipped.
5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars.
6 He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering. He practised divination and magic and consulted fortune tellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger.