1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled fifty-five years from Jerusalem.
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 sacred poles for worshipping the goddess Asherah. And he faithfully worshipped the stars in the sky.
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 courtyards of the temple
8. If my people will faithfully obey all the laws and teaching I gave to my servant Moses, I will never again force them to leave the land I gave to their ancestors.
9. But the people of Judah and Jerusalem listened to Manasseh and did even more sinful things than the nations the Lord had wiped out.
10. The Lord tried to warn Manasseh and the people about their sins, but they ignored the warning.