Prayer of Manasseh 1

How to read these pages: the text itself comes first, verse by verse, in the volume's own translation. Beneath each verse stands its Meaning — a rendering of what the passage's terms name in the inner life, drawn from the correspondences the text itself uses. The text is never altered; the meaning is offered, not imposed.

King James Version

1O Lord, Almighty God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of their righteous seed;

O indwelling LORD, Almighty God of our fathers — Abraham, Faith itself; Isaac, the joy-child of promise; and Jacob, the striving intellect — and of their righteous seed, their offspring-states in right relation to the divine order;

2who hast made heaven and earth, with all the ornament thereof;

who hast made heaven and earth — the inner realm and the outer world — with all the ornament thereof, all their ordered adornment;

3who 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;

who hast bound the sea by the word of Thy commandment — the great subconscious reservoir bound by Thy divine Idea going forth, by the articulation of Thy order; who hast shut up the deep, the subconscious depths, and sealed it by Thy terrible and glorious name;

4whom all men fear, and tremble before thy power;

whom all men fear, and tremble before Thy power;

5for the majesty of thy glory cannot be borne, and thine angry threatening toward sinners is importable:

for the majesty of Thy glory — the manifested weight of Thy Presence — cannot be borne, and thine angry threatening toward sinners, toward error-bound states, is unbearable to carry:

6but thy merciful promise is unmeasurable and unsearchable;

but Thy merciful promise is unmeasurable and unsearchable;

7for 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.

for Thou art the most high indwelling LORD, of great compassion, longsuffering, very merciful, and Thou turnest the state back from the evils of men. Thou, O indwelling LORD, according to Thy great goodness, hast promised repentance — the turning of the mind, the faculty changing its ruling thought and returning to the order — and forgiveness to them that have sinned against Thee; and of Thine infinite mercies hast appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved.

8Thou 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:

Thou therefore, O indwelling 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:

9for 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.

for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea. My transgressions, O indwelling LORD, are multiplied; my transgressions are multiplied, and I am not worthy to behold and see the height of heaven — the height of the inner realm — for the multitude of mine iniquities.

10I am bowed down with many iron bands, that I cannot lift 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.

I am bowed down with many iron bands, that I cannot lift up mine head, neither have any release: for I have provoked Thy wrath — set my state against Thy order — and done evil before Thee: I did not Thy will, neither kept I Thy commandments; I have set up abominations — formed images abhorred of the order — and have multiplied offences.

11Now therefore I bow the knee of mine heart, beseeching thee of grace.

Now therefore I bow the knee of mine heart, beseeching Thee of grace — of the unmerited inflow of Thy divine life and favour.

12I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge mine iniquities:

I have sinned, O indwelling LORD, I have sinned, and I acknowledge mine iniquities:

13wherefore, 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;

wherefore, I humbly beseech Thee, forgive me, O indwelling LORD, forgive me, and destroy me not with mine iniquities. Be not angry with me for ever, by reserving evil for me; neither condemn me to the lower parts of the earth, the lowest depths of the outer life. For Thou art the God, even the God of them that repent — of them that turn the mind and return:

14and in me thou wilt shew all thy goodness: for thou wilt save me, that am unworthy, according to thy great mercy.

and in me Thou wilt shew all Thy goodness: for Thou wilt save me, that am unworthy, according to Thy great mercy.

15Therefore 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.

Therefore I will praise Thee for ever, all the days of my life: for all the powers of the heavens — every faculty of the inner realm — do praise Thee, and Thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Companion volume to The Why Bible — the King James Apocrypha, rendered in its spiritual meanings. First final edition, October 2026.