2 Chronicles 16
1 In the thirty and sixth year of the reign of Asa, come up hath Baasha king of Israel, against Judah, and buildeth Ramah, so as not to permit any going out and coming 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 And Asa bringeth out silver and gold from the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and of the house of the king, and sendeth unto Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who is dwelling in 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 'A covenant [is] between me and thee, and between my father and thy father, lo, I have sent to thee silver and gold; go, break thy covenant with Baasha king of Israel, and he doth go up from off 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 And Ben-Hadad hearkeneth unto king Asa, and sendeth the heads of the forces that he hath unto cities of Israel, and they smite Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-Maim, and all the stores, 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 And it cometh to pass, at Baasha's hearing, that he ceaseth from building Ramah, and letteth his work rest;
When Baasha heard about that, he [commanded his troops to] stop fortifying Ramah and doing other work there.
6 and Asa the king hath taken all Judah, and they bear away the stones of Ramah, and its wood, that Baasha hath built, and he buildeth with them 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 And at that time hath Hanani the seer come in unto Asa king of Judah, and saith unto him, 'Because of thy leaning on the king of Aram, and thou hast not leaned on Jehovah thy God, therefore hath the force of the king of Aram escaped from thy 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 Did not the Cushim and the Lubim become a very great force for multitude, for chariot, and for horsemen? and in thy leaning on Jehovah He gave them into thy 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 Jehovah — His eyes go to and fro in all the earth, to show Himself strong [for] a people whose heart [is] perfect towards Him; thou hast been foolish concerning this, because — henceforth there are with thee 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 And Asa is angry at the seer, and giveth him to the house of torture, for [he is] in a rage with him for this; and Asa oppresseth [some] of the people at that 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 And lo, the matters of Asa, the first and the last, lo, they are written on 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 And Asa is diseased — in the thirty and ninth year of his reign — in his feet, till his disease is excessive, and also in his disease he hath not sought Jehovah, but among 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 And Asa lieth with his fathers, and dieth in the forty and first year of his reign,
When he had been ruling for almost 40 years, he died.
14 and they bury him in [one of] his graves, that he had prepared for himself in the city of David, and they cause him to lie on a bed that [one] hath filled [with] spices, and divers kinds of mixtures, with perfumed work; and they burn for him a burning — very great.
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.
