2 Chronicles 16–17

16TH CHAPTER

¹In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah to keep anyone from going to or coming from King Asa of Judah. 

²Then Asa brought out all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He sent them to Damascus to Aram’s King Benhadad. ³He said, “There’s a treaty between you and me ⸤as⸥ there was between your father and my father. I’m sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.” 

⁴Benhadad did what King Asa requested. He sent his generals and their armies to attack the cities of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities in the territory of Naphtali. ⁵When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying Ramah and abandoned his work on it. 

⁶Then King Asa took everyone in Judah ⸤to Ramah⸥. He made them carry the stones and lumber from Ramah. Baasha had been using those to fortify the city. Asa used the materials to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah. 

⁷At that time the seer^aHanani came to King Asa of Judah and said to him, “Because you depended on the king of Syria and did not depend on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped your grasp. ⁸Weren’t the Sudanese and Libyans a large army with many chariots and drivers? But when you depended on the Lord, he handed them over to you. ⁹The Lord’s eyes scan the whole world to find those whose hearts are committed to him and to strengthen them. You acted foolishly in this matter. So from now on, you will have to fight wars.” 

¹⁰Asa was furious at the seer. He was so angry with Hanani that he put Hanani in prison. Asa also oppressed some of the people at that time in his reign. 

¹¹Everything about Asa from first to last is written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 

¹²In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa got a foot disease that became progressively worse. Instead of asking the Lord for help, he went to doctors. 

¹³Asa lay down in death with his ancestors. He died in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴They buried him in the tomb that he had prepared for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bed full of spices and blended perfumes. And they burned a bonfire in his honor. 

17TH CHAPTER

King Jehoshaphat of Judah

¹Asa’s son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king. Jehoshaphat strengthened himself ⸤to wage war⸥ against Israel. ²He put troops in all the fortified cities of Judah and placed military posts in Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured. 

³The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, who lived in the old way like his ancestor David. Jehoshaphat didn’t dedicate his life to serving other gods—the Baals. ⁴Instead, he dedicated his life to his ancestor’s God and lived by God’s commands. Jehoshaphat did not do what Israel was doing. ⁵So the Lord established Jehoshaphat’s power over the kingdom. All the people of Judah gave gifts to Jehoshaphat, and he had a lot of riches and honor. ⁶He had the confidence to live the way the Lord wanted him to live. He also got rid of the illegal places of worship and poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah in Judah. 

⁷In the third year of his reign, he sent his officers Ben Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah. ⁸With them were the Levites Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, Tob Adonijah, and the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹They taught in Judah. They had the Book of the Lord’s Teachings with them when they taught the people in all the cities of Judah. 

¹⁰Fear of the Lord came to all the kingdoms around Judah. As a result, they didn’t wage war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver as taxes. The Arabs also brought him flocks: 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats. ¹²So Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful. He built fortresses and cities where supplies were stored in Judah. ¹³He had large supplies of food in the cities of Judah and an army of professional soldiers with him in Jerusalem. ¹⁴The following is a breakdown of these soldiers. They are listed by families. Judah’s regimental commanders were Commander Adnah (with 300,000 fighting men), ¹⁵next to him Commander Jehohanan (with 280,000), ¹⁶and next to him Amasiah, Zichri’s son, who volunteered to serve the Lord (with 200,000 fighting men). ¹⁷From Benjamin there was the fighting man Eliada (with 200,000 armed men with bows and shields), ¹⁸and next to him was Jehozabad (with him was an army of 180,000 armed men). ¹⁹These were the men who served the king in addition to those whom the king put in the fortified cities throughout Judah.