Prayer of Manasseh

About this text

A beautiful penitential prayer attributed to King Manasseh of Judah (referenced in 2 Chronicles 33:12–13). Expresses deep repentance.

Significance

Included in some Orthodox Bibles and historical prayer collections. A profound text on repentance.

How to Read This Historical Text

Prayer of Manasseh is included here as a historical and educational resource, not as Scripture and not as a replacement for the biblical canon. Readers may find it useful for understanding the ideas, debates, devotional language, and literary settings that surrounded Jewish and Christian communities in different periods.

Read this text with context in mind. Notice its era, category, and relationship to canonical passages, then compare its themes with the Bible itself. Some library works preserve valuable historical background, while others represent viewpoints that many Christian traditions rejected. Inclusion in this library does not mean endorsement of every claim or doctrine in the text.

For more about how The Bible Companion handles public-domain writings, Bible translations, attribution, and devotional material, see the Sources & Editorial Policy.

Key excerpts

"I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge my transgressions. I humbly beseech thee, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me."

"For thou art the God of those who repent, and in me thou wilt show all thy goodness."

Scripture cross-references

• 2 Chronicles 33:12-13 — Manasseh humbled himself and God heard him
• Psalm 51 — David's penitential psalm — similar spirit of repentance

Continue exploring

This text is one of 17 in the Early Jewish / Second Temple Texts category, and one of 62 across the entire library.