Prayer of King Manasseh

Prayer
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Guys, I want to share a prayer with you, one which is found in the Orthodox Bible, this is the Prayer of King Manasseh, which is written at the end of 2 Chronicles.
Here it is:
O Lord Almighty,
God of our ancestors,
of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and of their righteous offspring;
2you who made heaven and earth
with all their order;
3who shackled the sea by your word of command,
who confined the deep
and sealed it with your terrible and glorious name;
4at whom all things shudder,
and tremble before your power,
5for your glorious splendour cannot be borne,
and the wrath of your threat to sinners is unendurable;
6yet immeasurable and unsearchable
is your promised mercy,
7for you are the Lord Most High,
of great compassion, long-suffering, and very merciful,
and you relent at human suffering.
O Lord, according to your great goodness
you have promised repentance and forgiveness
to those who have sinned against you,
and in the multitude of your mercies
you have appointed repentance for sinners,
so that they may be saved.
8Therefore you, O Lord, God of the righteous,
have not appointed repentance for the righteous,
for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who did not sin against you,
but you have appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner.

9For the sins I have committed are more in number than the sand of the sea;
my transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied!
I am not worthy to look up and see the height of heaven
because of the multitude of my iniquities.
10I am weighted down with many an iron fetter,
so that I am rejected because of my sins,
and I have no relief;
for I have provoked your wrath
and have done what is evil in your sight,
setting up abominations and multiplying offences.

11And now I bend the knee of my heart,
imploring you for your kindness.
12I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned,
and I acknowledge my transgressions.
13I earnestly implore you,
forgive me, O Lord, forgive me!
Do not destroy me with my transgressions!
Do not be angry with me for ever or store up evil for me;
do not condemn me to the depths of the earth.
For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent,
14and in me you will manifest your goodness;
for, unworthy as I am, you will save me according to your great mercy,
15and I will praise you continually all the days of my life.
For all the host of heaven sings your praise,
and yours is the glory for ever. Amen.

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Thank you for sharing this, Samuel. The Prayer of Manasseh is such a powerful reminder that no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy. It’s humbling to read the words of a king who once led Judah into deep rebellion, yet found the courage to confess with true sorrow. What stands out to me is verse 11: “I bend the knee of my heart.” That image has stayed with me today. It’s not just outward repentance but an inward posture before the Lord.

This prayer might not be in every Bible, but its themes echo Psalm 51 and the prodigal son’s returnin Luke 15. God truly is rich in mercy for those who return to Him with a broken spirit and contrite heart.

Has anyone here used this prayer during personal confession or devotion time?

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Perfect, @JennyLynne sister, you have captured it beautifully. I have read this prayer alongside Psalm 51 and Jonah Chapter 2, and the connections are striking. Like David in Psalm 51, Manasseh lays his soul bare before God, acknowledging the depth of his sin while trusting in the infinite mercy of the Lord. And, as Jonah cries from the belly of the fish, we see again the desperate plea of the sinner turning fully to God, trusting in His saving hand even in the midst of overwhelming guilt.

What moves me most is the inwardness of Manasseh’s repentance—the bending of “the knee of his heart.” It reminds me that true contrition is not merely ritual or external action; it is the posture of the soul itself, a surrender of pride, a turning of every thought, desire, and intention toward God. There is a profound beauty in this honesty: he does not excuse his sins, he does not hide them, and yet he does not despair. His words echo the truth that God’s mercy is greater than any transgression.

Reading this prayer in conversation with the psalmist and Jonah, I am struck by the rhythm of repentance: confession, turning to God, and the hope of restoration. It is as though the soul moves from darkness into light, from fear into trust, and from despair into joy. By the end of the prayer, we find Manasseh not only seeking forgiveness but also offering praise, as if recognizing that even in the depths of sin, God’s glory shines forth and lifts the repentant heart. Truly, this prayer is a timeless meditation on mercy, humility, and the transforming power of God’s love. It reminds us that no one is beyond the reach of His grace, and that even the most fallen can rise through sincere repentance, finding freedom and joy in His presence

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The line in the Prayer of Manasseh verse 11, “I bend the knee of my heart,” is preserved in Greek, not Hebrew. The extant text reads: καὶ νῦν κάμπτω γόνυ καρδίας — literally, “And now I bend the knee of my heart.” Even though the prayer survives only in Greek, the language is drenched in Hebrew thought, and we can trace the words back to their biblical roots.

The Greek verb κάμπτω (kamptō), “to bend, bow,” corresponds to the Hebrew כָּרַע (karaʿ), “to kneel, bend low” (Strong’s H3766). We see this in Psalm 95:6, “Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker,” and Isaiah 45:23, “To me every knee shall bow.” The noun γόνυ (gonu), “knee,” aligns with the Hebrew בֶּרֶךְ (berek) (Strong’s H1290), as in 2 Kings 1:13, “He fell on his knees before Elijah.” The heart, καρδία (kardia), is the Greek equivalent of לֵב / לֵבָב (lev/levav) (Strong’s H3820/24), the seat of will and inner life. This is the same heart God commands to be circumcised in Deuteronomy 10:16, and the same heart David describes as “broken and contrite” in Psalm 51:17.

So while we cannot quote a Hebrew original of this prayer, the phrase almost certainly reflects idioms like: וְעַתָּה כּוֹרֵעַ בֶּרֶךְ לֵבָבִי, “And now I bend the knee of my heart,” or וְעַתָּה נִכְנָע לֵבָבִי, “And now my heart is humbled.” The fusion of kneeling and the heart is not empty metaphor, it is biblical theology. It joins the outward act of submission with the inward reality of repentance. The body bows, but the soul bows deeper still.

This is what makes Manasseh’s prayer so piercing. The king who once dragged Judah into idolatry finally collapses in true surrender, not with outward show but with inward contrition. His confession anticipates what Paul will later write in Philippians 2:10, that “every knee should bow,” but here the “knee” is the heart itself, bending low before God’s mercy.

And that is the lesson for us. Repentance is not cosmetic, it is not a ceremonial genuflection, it is the bending of the will, the collapsing of pride, the kneeling of the heart before the cross of Christ. Outward posture without inward contrition is hollow. But when the heart bends, the whole man is bowed before God, and mercy rushes in.

J.

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Yes brother @Johann, true :grinning_face:.

Peace