Bible (KJV) Apocrypha/Deuterocanon: Prayer of Manasseh

The most unlikely conversion in ancient literature. Manasseh, king of Judah, built altars to foreign gods and committed atrocities that shocked even the biblical writers. Then everything collapsed. The Assyrians captured him, imprisoned him in chains, and in that darkness something remarkable happened: he prayed. What emerged was a prayer so raw, so desperate, so utterly human that it has echoed through twenty-five centuries of Jewish and Christian tradition. This is not a polished royal proclamation but a supplicant's cry from the depths. Manasseh acknowledges his sins with unflinching honesty, then throws himself on divine mercy, trusting not in his own righteousness but in God's infinite compassion. The Prayer of Manasseh captures something universal: the hope that no sin is beyond forgiveness, that even the most fallen can return. It remains vital because it addresses the question every penitent asks: is it too late for me?