2 Chronicles 16–17

Asa’s Last Years

16^vIn the ^wthirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, ^xthat he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. ²Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king’s house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, ³“There is a covenant¹ between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” ⁴And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the ^ystore cities of Naphtali. ⁵And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease. ⁶Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

⁷At that time ^zHanani ^athe seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, ^b“Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. ⁸Were not ^cthe Ethiopians and ^dthe Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet ^ebecause you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. ^9fFor the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those ^gwhose heart is blameless² toward him. ^hYou have done foolishly in this, for from now on ⁱyou will have wars.” ¹⁰Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him ^jin the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.

^11kThe acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹²In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians. ¹³And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴They buried him in the tomb that he had cut for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier ^lthat had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer’s art, ^mand they made a very great fire in his honor.

Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah

17Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place and strengthened himself against Israel. ²He placed forces in all the ⁿfortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim ^othat Asa his father had captured. ³The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, ⁴but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, ^pand not according to the practices of Israel. ⁵Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah ^qbrought tribute to Jehoshaphat, ^rand he had great riches and honor. ⁶His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord. And furthermore, ^she took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.

⁷In the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, ^tto teach in the cities of Judah; ^8uand with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and with these Levites, the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹And ^tthey taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the Lord with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

^10vAnd the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹Some of the Philistines ^wbrought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute, and the Arabians also brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats. ¹²And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store cities, ¹³and he had large supplies in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. ¹⁴This was the muster of them by fathers’ houses: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, with 300,000 mighty men of valor; ¹⁵and next to him Jehohanan the commander, with 280,000; ¹⁶and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, ^xa volunteer for the service of the Lord, with 200,000 mighty men of valor. ¹⁷Of Benjamin: Eliada, a mighty man of valor, with 200,000 men ^yarmed with bow and shield; ¹⁸and next to him Jehozabad with 180,000 armed for war. ¹⁹These were in the service of the king, besides ^zthose whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.