2Ch 16 | EE | STEP | After Asa had been king of Judah for nearly 36 years Baasha, king of Israel, attacked Judah. And he made Ramah a strong town. He did not want to let anyone go in or out of King Asa’s country, Judah.

2 Chronicles 16

Baasha, king of Israel, attacks Judah

1 After Asa had been king of Judah for nearly 36 years Baasha, king of Israel, attacked Judah. And he made Ramah a strong town. He did not want to let anyone go in or out of King Asa’s country, Judah. ^{▼▼16:1 Baasha, the king of Israel had been an enemy of Judah since he became king. He fought wars against Asa since that time (1 Kings 15:16). Now Baasha attacked Judah.} ^{▼▼16:1 Ramah was on the main road about 5 miles (8 kilometres) north of Jerusalem. It was on high ground and it was a good place for soldiers to camp.}

Asa asks Ben-Hadad for help

2 Then Asa took silver and gold from the safe rooms in the LORD‘s house and in the king’s house. And he sent it to Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus. He said to him, 3 ‘We should promise to help each other. My father and your father promised to help each other. I am sending silver and gold to you. Please stop helping Baasha, king of Israel. Then he will go away from me.’

4 Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and he sent the captains of his armies to attack Israel’s towns. They won the fights at Ijon, Dan, Abel-Maim and all the cities where Naphtali kept their things. 5 When Baasha knew about this, he stopped building Ramah. He stopped his work on it. 6 So King Asa brought all the men from Judah. They carried away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build with in Ramah. And Asa used them to build in Geba and Mizpah.

Hanani tells Asa that he has done a wrong thing

7 At that time Hanani, the prophet came to Asa, king of Judah. He said, ‘You asked the king of Syria for help and not the LORD your God. So the army of Syria’s king will get away from you. 8 The armies of Ethiopia and Libya were very large. And they had many chariots and soldiers who rode on horses. But you trusted the LORD then and he helped you to win the fight against them. 9 The LORD can see everything that happens on the earth. He is strong. And he helps those who love him completely. You have done a very silly thing. So now you will always be fighting.’

Asa gets angry

10 Asa was angry with the prophet because of what he had said. He put him in a prison because he was so angry. And at that time Asa caused a lot of trouble to some of the people.

The end of Asa’s life

11 Somebody wrote about all the things that King Asa did. They are in the Book about the Kings of Judah and Israel. All the events from the first event to the last event are in that book. 12 When Asa had been king for nearly 39 years, he became ill. His feet became very bad. But Asa did not ask the LORD for help even when he was very ill. He went to the doctors instead. 13 Asa died as his ancestors had done. He had been king for almost 41 years. 14 The people buried him in the place that he had prepared in the city of David. They put him on a table that he had covered with spices and oils with sweet smells. And they lit a large fire to give honour to him.