Manasseh

Manasseh reversed Hezekiah's reforms, rebuilt high places, erected altars to Baal and Asherah, worshiped the host of heaven, practiced occult arts, and placed idolatrous objects in the Temple. Kings says he shed much innocent blood and made Judah sin more grievously than the nations dispossessed before Israel. Prophets announced that Jerusalem would face devastating judgment. Chronicles adds that Assyrian commanders captured Manasseh and took him in chains to Babylon. In distress he humbled himself and prayed; God restored him to Jerusalem. Manasseh then removed foreign gods and repaired the Lord's altar, though the effects of his earlier corruption remained profound.