“And all the powers of the world will do the will of the angel Berial, the impious king.
“At his word, the sun will shine in the darkness of the night, and the moon will appear at the eleventh hour.
“He will do all his pleasures; he will illtreat the Well-Beloved, and will say to him, Lo! I am God, and before me there is none other.
“And all the world will believe in him.
“And sacrifice will be offered to him, and a worship of adoration, saying, He alone is God, and there is none other.
“Then the greater number of those gathered together to receive the Well-Beloved will turn aside to Berial;
“Who by his power will work miracles in the cities and in the country;
“And everywhere shall a table be spread for him.
“His domination shall be for three years seven months and twenty-seven days.”[[690]]
Only when Hezekiah was at the point of death, did Isaiah reveal to him what and how great would be the iniquities of his son. Then the king would have slain Manasseh: “I had rather,” said he, “die without posterity, than leave behind me a son who should persecute the saints.”