2 Kings 21:17
Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
The verse belongs to the account of Manasseh, king of Judah, summing up the rest of his acts and all that he did and his sin that he sinned, and pointing for the fuller record of his reign to the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. It is read with 2 Kings 19-20 as part of the Old Testament readings from 2 Kings 7 through 23, a section covering nearly three hundred years, including in Judah the reigns from Ahaziah through Jehoahaz and in Israel the reigns from Joram to Hoshea, when Israel came to an end by Assyrian invasion and captivity, with the ministry of Elisha and the prophets Hosea, Jonah, Amos, Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Nahum. It stands in Judah's spotted record and in the closing history of Kings recording the wicked and weak reigns of the kings of Judah, in which the kingdom always prospered under righteous, faithful rulers while rulers turning from God to gross idolatry brought calamity upon themselves and their people, standing apart from the one bright chapter of the reformation conducted under the good king Josiah supported by his godly priests and counselors.
Manasseh was a wicked king followed by his wicked son Amon, who led the nation deeply into heathen idolatry in the course by which Judah followed Israel's idolatry until captivity came to her, leaving Josiah to grow up amid its corruption. Manasseh was born after Hezekiah's mistake, which exalted man and brought the prospect of captivity upon Hezekiah's descendants, and though Manasseh was a wicked king, God nevertheless showed him mercy.