Manasseh taken to Babylon; he repents
Assyrian commanders took Manasseh to Babylon in chains; in his distress he humbled himself, and God restored him to Jerusalem.
When he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him; and he was entreated by him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Yahweh was God.
2 Chronicles 33:12–13 (World English Bible)
Back on his throne, Manasseh removed the foreign gods and restored the altar of Yahweh, though the people kept sacrificing at the high places. It's one of Scripture's most striking accounts of God's mercy to a deeply guilty man, recorded only in Chronicles.
Places
JerusalemBabylonAssyriaCity of DavidKidronGihonOphelFish Gate
Ancient witnesses outside the Bible
Historical sources, not Scripture.
- Prayer of Manasseh 1:1–15 — a prayer of repentance in Manasseh’s voice, written much later
Dating notes
Ussher dates the captivity to 677 BC. At this time Assyria controlled Babylon, which explains why an Assyrian army took him there.