1Ki 15:17-22, 2Ch 16:1-10 | ESV | STEP | Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah , that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah .

1 Kings 15:17-22

17 ^aBaasha king of Israel went up against Judah and ^bbuilt Ramah, ^cthat he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold ^dthat were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house and gave them into the hands of his servants. ^eAnd King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ^fwho lived in Damascus, saying, 19 “Let there be ^ga covenant ^{▼▼Or treaty; twice in this verse} between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” 20 And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and conquered ⁱIjon, ^jDan, ^kAbel-beth-maacah, and all ^lChinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21 And when Baasha heard of it, ^mhe stopped building Ramah, and he lived in ⁿTirzah. 22 Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, none was exempt, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them King Asa built ^oGeba of Benjamin and ^pMizpah.

2 Chronicles 16:1-10

Asa’s Last Years

1 ^qIn the ^rthirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, ^sthat he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then 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 covenant ^{▼▼Or treaty; twice in this verse} 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.” 4 And 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 ^ustore cities of Naphtali. 5 And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease. 6 Then 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.

7 At that time ^vHanani ^wthe seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, ^x“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. 8 Were not ^ythe Ethiopians and ^zthe Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet ^aabecause you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. 9 ^abFor the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those ^acwhose heart is blameless ^{▼▼Or whole} toward him. ^aeYou have done foolishly in this, for from now on ^afyou will have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him ^agin 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.