The king and the leaders admitted that they had sinned, and they said, "What the LORD is doing is just."

When the LORD saw this, he spoke again to Shemaiah and said to him, "Because they admit their sin, I will not destroy them. But when Shishak attacks, they will barely survive. Jerusalem will not feel the full force of my anger,

In his suffering he became humble, turned to the LORD his God, and begged him for help.

God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the LORD was God.

"I am the high and holy God, who lives forever. I live in a high and holy place, but I also live with people who are humble and repentant, so that I can restore their confidence and hope.

The LORD's unfailing love and mercy still continue,

He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.

"We have sinned and rebelled, and you, O LORD, have not forgiven us.

Humble yourselves, then, under God's mighty hand, so that he will lift you up in his own good time.

But even so, there is some good in you. You have removed all the symbols of the goddess Asherah which people worshiped, and you have tried to follow God's will."

If there are fifty innocent people in the city, will you destroy the whole city? Won't you spare it in order to save the fifty?

All the people of Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He will be the only member of Jeroboam's family who will be properly buried, because he is the only one with whom the LORD, the God of Israel, is pleased.

Even if one person out of ten remains in the land, he too will be destroyed; he will be like the stump of an oak tree that has been cut down." (The stump represents a new beginning for God's people.)