The reformation and reign of Hezekiah were succeeded by unprecedented abominations of idolatry during the reign of Manasseh his son. "He built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, [his presence in the Shekina,] to provoke him to anger. And he set a graven image of the grove [_i. e._, the pillar or statue] that he had made, in the house of the Lord," probably within the veil confronting the Shekina. He seduced the people "to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spake by his servants the prophets, saying: Because Manasseh King of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols, therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. And I will _forsake_ the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies." 2 Kings xxi. and 2 Chron. xxxiii. Manasseh was succeeded by Amon his son, "who did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them." 2 Kings xxi. In the next reign, that of Josiah, a general reformation was wrought, and idolatry and its monuments were temporarily put away. "Notwithstanding, the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal. And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and _the house_ of which I said, My name shall be there." 2 Kings xxiii.