2 Chronicles 16

1 In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

When Asa had been ruling [Judah] for almost 36 years, King Baasha of Israel went [with his army] to attack Judah. They [captured the town of] Ramah [north of Jerusalem] and started to build a wall around [it], in order to prevent any people from entering or leaving the area in Judah that was ruled by King Asa [because the only road into Judah from Israel went through Ramah].

2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent to Ben Hadad king of Aram, who lived at Damascus, saying,

So Asa told his workers to take all the silver and gold that was in the storerooms of the temple and in his own palace, and take and give it to Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, who was ruling in Damascus. [He sent him a message, ] saying

3 "Let there be a treaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Look, I have sent you silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me."

“I want there to be a peace treaty between me and you, like there was between my father and your father. Look, I am sending you [a lot of] silver and gold. So please cancel the treaty that you have made with Baasha, the king of Israel, in order that he will take his soldiers away from attacking mine, [because he will be afraid of your army].”

4 Ben Hadad listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.

Ben-Hadad agreed to do what King Asa [suggested]. He sent the commanders of his armies [with their soldiers] to attack some of the towns in Israel. They captured Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Maacah and all the cities in the area belonging to the tribe of Naphtali where supplies were kept.

5 It happened, when Baasha heard of it, that he left off building Ramah, and let his work cease.

When Baasha heard about that, he [commanded his troops to] stop fortifying Ramah and doing other work there.

6 Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and its timber, with which Baasha had built; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

Then King Asa gathered all the men of Judah, and they took away from Ramah all the stones and timber that Baasha’s men had been using [to build the wall around that town]. They took those materials to [the town of] Geba and [the city of] Mizpah [north of Jerusalem] and built walls around them.

7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, "Because you have relied on the king of Aram, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore is the army of the king of Aram escaped out of your hand.

At that time the prophet Hanani went to King Asa and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria and not on Yahweh our God, you missed your opportunity to destroy the army of the king of Syria.

8 Weren't the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge army, with chariots and horsemen exceeding many? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand.

The huge armies from Ethiopia and Libya with all their chariots and soldiers [riding] on horses [were certainly very powerful. But] when you relied on Yahweh, he enabled your army to defeat them.

9 For the eyes of the LORD run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein you have done foolishly; for from now on you shall have wars."

That happened because Yahweh sees [what is happening] all over the earth, and he strengthens those who completely trust him. You have done a very foolish thing, so from now on other armies will be fighting your army.”

10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in the prison; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

Asa was very angry with the prophet because of what the prophet had said. So he [commanded his officials to] put Hanani in prison. At that same time, he started to treat some of his people very cruelly.

11 Look, the acts of Asa, first and last, look, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

All the things that Asa did while he was ruling, from the time he started to rule until he died, are written in the scroll containing the record of the [activities of the] kings of Judah and Israel.

12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but to the physicians.

When Asa had been ruling for almost 39 years, he was afflicted with a disease in his feet. The disease was very severe, but in spite of that, he did not request help from Yahweh. Instead he sought help only from doctors.

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

When he had been ruling for almost 40 years, he died.

14 They buried him in his own tomb that he had dug out in the City of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with spices and various kinds of sweet-scented herbs prepared by the perfumers' art, and they made a very great fire for him.

He was buried in the tomb that his workers had made for him in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. They laid his corpse on a bed covered with spices and various perfumes that had been mixed together. They also lit a huge fire to honor him.