2 Chronicles 16

Asa’s Treaty with Aram

16In the thirty-sixth year of Asa, ^dIsrael’s King Baasha went to war against Judah. He built Ramah in order to deny access to anyone—going or coming—to Judah’s King Asa. ²So Asa brought out the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace and sent it to Aram’s King Ben-hadad, who lived in Damascus, saying, ³“There’s a treaty between me and you, between my father and your father. Look, I have sent you silver and gold. Go break your treaty with Israel’s King Baasha so that he will withdraw from me.”

⁴Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies to the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, ^eand all the storage cities ^fof Naphtali. ⁵When Baasha heard about it, he quit building Ramah and stopped his work. ⁶Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had built it with. Then he built Geba and Mizpah with them.

Hanani’s Rebuke of Asa

⁷At that time, Hanani ^gthe seer came to King Asa of Judah and said to him, “Because you depended on the king of Aram and have not depended on the Lord your God, ^hthe army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. ⁸Were not the Cushites and Libyans a vast army with many chariots and horsemen? ⁱWhen you depended on Yahweh, He handed them over to you. ^j9For the eyes of Yahweh roam throughout the earth ^kto show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His. ^lYou have been foolish in this matter. Therefore, you will have wars from now on.” ¹⁰Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison ^mbecause of his anger over this. And Asa mistreated some of the people at that time.

Asa’s Death

¹¹Note that the events ⁿof Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹²In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a disease in his feet, and his disease became increasingly severe. Yet even in his disease he didn’t seek the Lord but only the physicians. ¹³Asa died in the forty-first year of his reign and rested with his fathers. ¹⁴He was buried in his own tomb that he had made for himself in the city of David. They laid him out in a coffin that was full of spices and various mixtures of prepared ointments; ^othen they made a great fire in his honor. ^p