“10 I am bent down with so many iron chains that I shake my head over my sins, neither do I have any relief. For I have provoked Your anger and done evil in your sight. I have set up abominations and multiplied idols.
(2 Chronicles 37)
11 “Now therefore, I bow the knee of my heart, begging goodness from You.
12 I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I know my lawlessness.
13 I ask and beg you: forgive me, O Lord, forgive me, and do not destroy me because of my lawlessness; neither reserve evils for me, nor be wrathful forever; nor condemn me to the lowest parts of the earth; for You are the Lord God of those who repent.
14 And in me, though I am unworthy, You will show Your goodness, and will save me according to Your great mercy.
15 Therefore I shall praise You continually all the days of my life, for all the powers of the heavens praise You, and Yours is the glory unto the ages.
Amen.””
Manasseh the King was a king of Judah, one of the two Kingdoms of Isreal in the Old Testament. He reigned from c. 686 to 642 BCE. The writers of the Old Testament mentioned that he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and he chose to worship other Gods than the God of Isreal. And that he committed man abominations, e.g. he sacrificed by burning children in fire to Canaanite Gods. But towards the end of his life, he was captured and sent to Assyria in chains for a while, and then he was sent back to Jerusalem. During his imprisonment, he repented and prayed this prayer.
The prayer text is considered canonical by the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches. However, other Churches debate the canonicity of this prayer. The group of texts that are discussed sometimes are referred to as Deuterocanonical. I thought to include it in this blog because it expresses deep repentance.
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This translation is from The Orthodox Study Bible. You can download the iOS App from App Store. Or you can find it on Amazon in Kindle and Hardcover formats.
References
Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology, Elk Grove, California. The Orthodox Study Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008.
