Manasseh, King of Judah, stands as a stark example of wickedness among the rulers of Judah. He seduced the people with astrology, spiritism, witchcraft, human sacrifice, pagan altars, and idol groves, leading Judah into greater evil than the pagan nations God had commanded Israel to destroy. Manasseh destroyed all the good works of his predecessor, Hezekiah. Astonishingly, despite his profound wickedness, he repented while in captivity. Due to his former evils, he was not buried among the other kings of Judah. Yet, despite his grievous sins, Manasseh is included in the list of Christ's ancestors in Matthew 1, showing that relative evil or goodness did not necessarily determine inclusion in this lineage.

Manasseh, King of Judah, ascended to the throne at the tender age of twelve and reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. Despite being the son of Hezekiah, one of Judah's most revered kings, Manasseh did evil in the sight of the Lord, following the abominations of the nations that the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. He rebuilt the high places his father had destroyed, raised altars for the Baals, made wooden images, and worshipped the host of heaven, serving them. He built altars in the house of the Lord, a place where the Lord had declared His name would be forever, and even set a carved idol within it. Manasseh caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom, practiced soothsaying, witchcraft, and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists, doing much evil to provoke the Lord to anger. He seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel, undoing all the good works of Hezekiah through astrology, spiritism, wizardry, human sacrifice, and the erection of idol groves. Yet, in captivity, Manasseh repented, though he was not permitted to be buried with the kings. Despite his profound wickedness, his name remains on the list of Christ's ancestors in Matthew 1, illustrating that even those with grave flaws are part of the lineage leading to Jesus Christ.