In 2 Chronicles 33 we read the story of the evil King Manasseh. In a time of distress Manasseh seeks God and prays. God responds and restores King Manasseh to power (2 Chronicles 33:12-13, 19). In response, King Manasseh undoes many of the wicked things he had done earlier in his life.
Though the book of 2 Chronicles does not record Manasseh’s prayer, it has been preserved for us in this short book, Prayer of Manasseh, which the KJV calls The Prayer of Manesses.
This short, fifteen-verse prayer contains three parts. The first is praise; the second, confession; and the third, seeking forgiveness.
Prayer of Manasseh is an Apocrypha book and not included in all versions of the Bible.
The Revised Standard Version (RSV), Common English Bible (CEB), Wycliffe Bible (WYC), Greek Orthodox Bible, Ethiopian Bible, and the original Authorized King James Version (KJV) all include Prayer of Manasseh.
However, Prayer of Manasseh was removed from the KJV almost two centuries after it was first published. The Septuagint, an ancient Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures, which was widely used in Jesus’s day, also contains Prayer of Manasseh.
For more information, see why “Christians Should Consider the Entire Bible.”
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
