2 Chronicles 16

1 In the six-and-thirtieth year of the reign of Assa, came up Ba'sha the king of Israel against Judah, and built Kamah, in order not to suffer any one to go out or come in to Assa the king of Judah.

In the thirty-sixth year of the rule of Asa, Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah, building Ramah so that no one was able to go out or in to Asa, king of Judah.

2 Then did Assa bring out silver and gold out of the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king's house, and sent [them] to Ben-hadad the king of Syria, who dwelt at Damascus, saying,

Then Asa took silver and gold out of the stores of the Lord's house and of the king's store-house, and sent to Ben-hadad, king of Aram, at Damascus, saying,

3 A covenant is between me and thee, as between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee silver and gold; go, break thy covenant with Ba'sha the king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.

Let there be an agreement between me and you as there was between my father and your father: see, I have sent you silver and gold; go and put an end to your agreement with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he may give up attacking me.

4 And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Assa, and sent the captains of the armies that he had against the cities of Israel, and they smote 'Iyon, and Dan, and Abel-mayim, and all the treasure-cities of Naphtali.

And Ben-hadad did as King Asa said, and sent the captains of his armies against the towns of Israel, attacking Ijon and Dan and Abel-maim, and all the store-towns of Naphtali.

5 And it came to pass, when Ba'sha heard this, that he left off the building of Ramah, and stopped his work.

Then Baasha, hearing of it, put a stop to the building of Ramah, and let his work come to an end.

6 And king Assa took then all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and its timber, wherewith Ba'sha had built; and he built therewith Geba' and Mizpah.

Then King Asa, with all Judah, took away the stones and wood with which Baasha was building Ramah, and he made use of them for building Geba and Mizpah.

7 And at that time came Chanani the seer to Assa the king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and hast not relied on the Lord thy God: therefore is the army of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hands.

At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Judah, and said to him, Because you have put your faith in the king of Aram and not in the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has got away out of your hands.

8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim a numerous army, with chariots and horsemen in great abundance? yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he gave them up into thy hand.

Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim a very great army, with war-carriages and horsemen more than might be numbered? but because your faith was in the Lord, he gave them up into your hands.

9 For as regardeth the Lord, his eyes roam throughout the whole earth, to hold strongly with those whose heart is entire toward him: thou hast done foolishly for this reason; because from this time forth there will be wars with thee.

For the eyes of the Lord go this way and that, through all the earth, letting it be seen that he is the strong support of those whose hearts are true to him. In this you have done foolishly, for from now you will have wars.

10 Then became Assa incensed toward the seer, and put him in a prison-house; for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Assa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, burning with wrath against him because of this thing. And at the same time Asa was cruel to some of the people.

11 And, behold, the acts of Assa, the first and the last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

Now the acts of Asa, first and last, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

12 And Assa became sick in the thirty-and-ninth year of his reign in his feet, his disease being exceedingly severe: yet even in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but [applied] to the physicians.

In the thirty-ninth year of his rule, Asa had a very bad disease of the feet; but he did not go to the Lord for help in his disease, but to medical men.

13 And Assa slept with his fathers, and died in the one-and-fortieth year of his reign.

So Asa went to rest with his fathers, and death came to him in the forty-first year of his rule.

14 And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had dug for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the couch which was filled with sweet odors and divers kinds of spices mixed by the apothecary's art; and they made for him a burning uncommonly great.

And they put him into the resting-place which he had made for himself in the town of David, in a bed full of sweet perfumes of all sorts of spices, made by the perfumer's art, and they made a great burning for him.