1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.
3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshipped them.
4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ‘In Jerusalem I will put my Name.’
5 In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts.
6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practised divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.
7 He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, ‘In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name for ever.