Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you concerning the Apocrypha--There are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly . . . Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the Spirit manifesteth truth; and whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom. (D&C 91:1, 4-5)
The Prayer of Manasseh is dated between the first century BC to first century/early second century AD. Commenting on the background of The Prayer of Manasseh, LDS scholar Jared Ludlow noted:
2 Chronicles repeats many of the events and descriptions of royalty found in 2 Kings; however, sometimes it makes significant changes. In the case of Manasseh, 2 Chronicles 33 opens up with the possibility that Manasseh wasn’t always as evil as he is made out to be in 2 Kings. He did commit many of the sins outlined in the earlier text, but in the end he was captured by the Assyrians and hauled off with hooks and fetters (2 Chronicles 33:10-11). In his distress, Manasseh humbled himself and called upon the Lord. “[He] prayed unto him: and he [God] was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God” (33:13). When Manasseh returned to his land, he fortified the cities and, more importantly, reformed some of the false worship he had instigated, particularly taking away the foreign gods from the temple complex (33:14-16). However, the reform was not a complete religious overhaul as people continued to sacrifice in the high places, but now only to the Lord their God (33:17).
There is no mention in 2 Kings about Manasseh’s captivity, repentance, prayer, or reforms, but 2 Chronicles includes all this as it provides a redeeming end to Manasseh’s reign and even points to other accounts of his prayer lie changes. “His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers” (33:19). Yet the words of his repentant prayer are not found in 2 Chronicles and it is unclear what the source “the sayings of the seers” is, so there seems to be a gap that later readers would want to fill. Perhaps it was precisely this gap that The Prayer of Manasseh from the Apocrypha seeks to fill either by copying from an earlier source or creating a new text in a Greek-speaking audience. (Jared W Ludlow, Exploring the Apocrypha from a Latter-day Saint Perspective [Springville, Utah: CFI, 2018], 95-96, emphasis added)
The Prayer of Manasseh reads as follows (as I am sure many have never read this short work, I am reproducing three translations of the text):
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King James Apocrypha
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New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
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New Engish Translation of the Septuagint (NETS)
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O Lord, Almighty God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of their righteous seed;
2 who hast made heaven and earth, with all the ornament thereof;
3 who hast bound the sea by the word of thy commandment; who hast shut up the deep, and sealed it by thy terrible and glorious name;
4 whom all men fear, and tremble before thy power; for the majesty of thy glory cannot be borne, and thine angry threatening toward sinners is importable:
5 but thy merciful promise is unmeasurable and unsearchable;
6 for thou art the most high Lord, of great compassion, longsuffering, very merciful, and repentest of the evils of men. Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness hast promised repentance and forgiveness to them that have sinned against thee: and of thine infinite mercies hast appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved.
7 Thou therefore, O Lord, that art the God of the just, hast not appointed repentance to the just, as to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, which have not sinned against thee; but thou hast appointed repentance unto me that am a sinner:
8 for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea. My transgressions, O Lord, are multiplied: my transgressions are multiplied, and I am not worthy to behold and see the height of heaven for the multitude of mine iniquities.
9 I am bowed down with many iron bands, that I cannot life up mine head, neither have any release: for I have provoked thy wrath, and done evil before thee: I did not thy will, neither kept I thy commandments: I have set up abominations, and have multiplied offences.
10 Now therefore I bow the knee of mine heart, beseeching thee of grace.
11 I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge mine iniquities:
12 wherefore, I humbly beseech thee, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me, and destroy me not with mine iniquites. Be not angry with me for ever, by reserving evil for me; neither condemn me to the lower parts of the earth. For thou art the God, even the God of them that repent;
13 and in me thou wilt shew all thy goodness: for thou wilt save me, that am unworthy, according to thy great mercy.
14 Therefore I will praise thee for ever all the days of my life: for all the powers of the heavens do praise thee, and thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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O Lord Almighty, God of our ancestors, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous offspring;
2 you who made heaven and earth with all their order;
3 who shackled the sea by your word of command, who confined the deep and sealed it with your terrible and glorious name;
4 at whom all things shudder, and tremble before your power,
5 for your glorious splendor cannot be borne, and the wrath of your threat to sinners is unendurable;
6 yet immeasurable and unsearchable is your promised mercy,
7 for 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.
8 Therefore 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.
9 For 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.
10 I 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 offenses.
11 And now I bend the knee of my heart, imploring you for your kindness.
12 I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge my transgressions.
13 I earnestly implore you, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me! Do not destroy me with my transgressions! Do not be angry with me forever 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,
14 and in me you will manifest your goodness; for, unworthy as I am, you will save me according to your great mercy,
15 and 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 forever. Amen.
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O Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, of Abraam and Isaak and Iakob and of their righteous offspring,
2 you who made the sky and the earth together with all their order, you who shackled the sea by the word of your ordinance,
3 you who shut up the deep and sealed it with your awesome and notable name,
4 at whom all things shudder and tremble from before your power,
5 because the magnificence of your glory cannot be borne, and the wrath of your threat against sinners cannot be withstood;
6 both immeasurable and inscrutable is the mercy of your promise,
7 because you are Lord Most High, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and repenting at ills of human beings.
8 So you, O Lord God of the righteous, you did not appoint repentance for righteous ones, for Abraam and Isaak and Iakob, who had not sinned against you, but you appointed repentance for me, the sinner,
9 because I sinned beyond the number of the sand of the sea. My acts of lawlessness multiplied, O Lord, they multiplied, and I am not worthy to gaze at and see the height of the sky, due to the multitude of my injustices.
10 Bent down I am by many a fetter of iron, for me to say, "No," over my sins. And I find no relief, because I provoked your anger and did what was evil before you, having set up abominations and having multipied objects of wrath.
11 And now I bend my heart's knee, begging for kindness from you.
12 I have sinned, O Lord; I have sinned, and my lawless acts I know.
13 I plead, begging you; relieve me, O Lord; relieve me! Do not destroy me together with my acts of lawlessness nor be angry forever and retain evil for me nor condemn me in the deepest places of the earth, because you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent,
14 and in me show your goodness, because, though unworthy, you will save me according to your abundant mercy,
15 and I will praise you always throughout the days of my life, because all the host of the heavens will sing a hymn to you, and yours is the glory forever. Amen.
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The work is a very good study on the nature of true repentance—one that is not mere words, but action, too., something that Latter-day Saints can appreciate, even if the work is non-canonical. Indeed, as Ludlow noted:
The Prayer of Manasseh is a great example of how a sinner can humble himself and receive God’s mercy and forgiveness. In some ways, Manasseh would be the prime example for Latter-day Saints that even the most despicable sinners can still repent and receive God’s mercy because traditionally Manasseh is held responsible for brutally putting the prophet Isaiah to death and the prophet Isaiah is very important to Latter-day Saints. If even he can be forgiven, then certainly others can as well. The text also reminds the reader of the importance of avoiding false worship practices and ideas of others and the value of trying to make reform when realizing one’s mistakes. (Ibid., 97)
Finally, with respect to v. 8 of the text, which seems to indicate that Abraham et al did not have a need for repentance, Ludlow wrote:
The Prayer of Manasseh seems to make the point that repentance is only for sinners, not the righteous, so individuals like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who did not sin, did not need repentance (unlike Manasseh, who certainly needed repentance) (v. 8). Some translations solve this apparent theological problem by emphasizing that God has not appointed repentance only to the righteous, but especially to the sinners. Perhaps one way to reconcile this verse is to see it analogous to Jesus’s statement in the New Testament that he was not sent to the “whole” but to the sick: “I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17; see also Luke 5:32). In this interpretation, the statement is more for emphasis, not exclusion. (Ibid., 98 n. 5)
