The Most Evil King in Judah's History Is Captured, Bound with Bronze Hooks, and Dragged to Babylon

Manasseh has reigned fifty-five years — longer than any king of Judah — and has filled Jerusalem with innocent blood and idols. God speaks to him and his people, but they ignore it. So God brings the commanders of the Assyrian army against him. They take Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bind him with bronze shackles, and lead him to Babylon. In his humiliation and distress, Manasseh prays to God — and God is moved and brings him back to Jerusalem. Manasseh then removes the foreign idols from the city and restores the altar of the Lord. The most evil man in Judah's history also becomes the most dramatic example of repentance in it.