16Baasha was king of Israel. He marched out against Judah. It was in the 36th year of Asa’s rule over Judah. Baasha built up the walls of Ramah. He did it to keep people from leaving or entering the territory of Asa, the king of Judah.

²Asa took the silver and gold from among the treasures of the Lord’s temple and his own palace. He sent it to Ben-Hadad. Ben-Hadad was king of Aram. He was ruling in Damascus. ³“Let’s make a peace treaty between us,” Asa said. “My father and your father had made a peace treaty between them. Now I’m sending you silver and gold. So break your treaty with Baasha, the king of Israel. Then he’ll go back home.”

⁴Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa. He sent his army commanders against the towns of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim and all of the cities in Naphtali where Baasha stored things.

⁵Baasha heard about it. So he stopped building up Ramah. He stopped working there. ⁶Then King Asa brought all of the men of Judah to Ramah. They carried away the stones and wood Baasha had been using. Asa used them to build up Geba and Mizpah.

⁷At that time the prophet Hanani came to Asa, the king of Judah. He said to him, “You trusted the king of Aram. You didn’t trust in the Lord your God. So the army of the king of Aram has escaped from you. ⁸The people of Cush and Libya had a strong army. They had large numbers of chariots and horsemen. But you trusted in the Lord. So he handed them over to you. ⁹The Lord looks out over the whole earth. He gives strength to those who commit their lives completely to him. You have done a foolish thing. From now on you will be at war.”

¹⁰Asa was angry with the prophet because of what he had said. In fact, he was so angry he put him in prison. At the same time, Asa treated some of his own people very badly.

¹¹The events of Asa’s rule from beginning to end are written down. They are written in the records of the kings of Judah and Israel.

¹²In the 39th year of Asa’s rule his feet began to hurt. The pain was terrible. But even though he was suffering, he didn’t look to the Lord for help. All he did was go to the doctors.

¹³In the 41st year of Asa’s rule he joined the members of his family who had already died. ¹⁴His body was buried in a tomb. He had cut it out for himself in the City of David. His body was laid on a wooden frame. It was covered with spices and different mixes of perfume. A huge fire was made in his honor.

Jehoshaphat Becomes King of Judah

17Jehoshaphat was the son of Asa. Jehoshaphat became the next king after him. He made his kingdom strong in case Israel would attack him. ²He placed troops in all of the cities of Judah that had high walls around them. He stationed some soldiers in Judah. He also put some in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.

³The Lord was with Jehoshaphat. That’s because in his early years he lived the way King David had lived. He didn’t ask for advice from the gods that were named after Baal. ⁴Instead, he looked to the God of his father. He followed the Lord’s commands instead of the practices of Israel.

⁵The Lord made the kingdom secure under Jehoshaphat’s control. All of the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat. So he had great wealth and honor. ⁶His heart was committed to living the way the Lord wanted him to. He removed the high places from Judah. He also removed the poles that were used to worship the goddess Asherah.

⁷In the third year of his rule, he sent his officials to teach in the towns of Judah. The officials were Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah. ⁸Some Levites were with them. Their names were Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah. The priests Elishama and Jehoram were also with them. ⁹They taught people all through Judah. They took the Scroll of the Law of the Lord with them. They went around to all of the towns of Judah. And they taught the people.

¹⁰All of the kingdoms of the lands around Judah became afraid of the Lord. So they didn’t go to war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹Some Philistines brought to Jehoshaphat the gifts and silver he required of them. The Arabs brought him their flocks. They brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats.

¹²Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful. He built forts in Judah. He also built cities in Judah where he could store things. ¹³He had large supplies in the towns of Judah. In Jerusalem he kept men who knew how to fight well. ¹⁴Here is a list of them, family by family.

From Judah there were commanders of companies of 1,000.

One of them was Adnah. He commanded 300,000 fighting men.

¹⁵Another was Jehohanan. He commanded 280,000.

¹⁶Another was Amasiah, the son of Zicri. Amasiah commanded 200,000. He had offered to serve the Lord.

¹⁷From Benjamin there were also commanders.

One of them was Eliada. He was a brave soldier. He commanded 200,000 men. They were armed with bows and shields.

¹⁸Another was Jehozabad. He commanded 180,000 men. They were prepared for battle.

¹⁹Those were the men who served the king. He stationed some other men in the cities all through Judah. The cities had high walls around them.

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