2 Kings 21:16-26
"16 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son reigned in his place.
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. 21 He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them.22 He abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. 23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house. 24 But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place."
This account of the last years of Manasseh needs to be supplemented by additional material from 2 Chronicles 33:10-20, where we find the astonishing information that he was humbled before God and brought to repentance. This is very striking, not because we could ever doubt God's power to turn such an evil man as he was, but as an evidence of the tremendous influence that a godly parent's testimony can have on even such a wicked life as he had lived. We cannot doubt that Hezekiah's prayers had much to do with this late change of heart in his son, and that they followed him long after the old king's death and finally prevailed with God on his behalf. And so Manasseh died in peace. But this does not mean that God's judgments were to be waived. There is a point at which repentance comes too late - not with reference to personal forgiveness, but as regards the terrible consequences of sin. Psalm 99:8 crystallises this distinction perfectly, 'Thou art a God that forgavest them, though Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.' No repentance on Manasseh's part could ever have shaken the determination of God to visit Judah for her sins and, be it also noted, no repentance at the end of a long life of evil was to suffice to influence the son who followed him on the throne. Amon followed the mainstream, not the final episode, of his father's career. From which we may learn that it is the long-term influence of parents’ lives that prevails in the training of children in godliness. Some parents are too late in getting right with God to have any lasting influence on their families.