2 Berɛsosɛm 16
1 Asa dii adeɛ mfeɛ aduasa nsia no, Israelhene Baasa kɔto hyɛɛ Yuda so, na ɔbɔɔ Rama ho ban, sɛdeɛ ɛbɛyɛ a, obi ntumi nkɔ mu anaa ɔmpue mfiri ɔhene Asa Yudaman mu.
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 Asa yii dwetɛ ne sikakɔkɔɔ firii Awurade Asɔredan adekoradan ne ahemfie hɔ. Ɔde kɔmaa Aramhene Ben-Hadad a na ɔdi ɔhene wɔ Damasko na ɔde saa nkra yi kaa ho:
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 “Ma yɛnyɛ apam sɛdeɛ wʼagya ne mʼagya yɛɛ apam no. Mede dwetɛ ne sikakɔkɔɔ akyɛdeɛ rebrɛ wo. Twa wo ne Israelhene Baasa apam no mu, sɛdeɛ ɔremfa ne nsa nka 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 penee ɔhene Asa abisadeɛ no so, na ɔsomaa nʼasraafoɔ, kɔto hyɛɛ Israel so. Wɔdii Iyon, Dan, Abel-Maim ne Naftali aduane akoraeɛ nkuropɔn nyinaa so.
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 Ɛberɛ a Israelhene Baasa tee deɛ ɛrekɔ so no, ɔgyaee Rama ho banbɔ dwumadie no.
When Baasha heard about that, he [commanded his troops to] stop fortifying Ramah and doing other work there.
6 Enti, ɔhene Asa frɛɛ ne mmarima a wɔwɔ Yuda nyinaa, maa wɔbɛsoaa adansie aboɔ ne nnua a na Baasa de rebɔ Rama ho ban no. Asa de saa nneɛma yi bɔɔ nkuro Geba ne Mispa ho ban.
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 Saa ɛberɛ no mu, ɔdehunumuni Hanani baa ɔhene Asa nkyɛn bɛka kyerɛɛ no sɛ, “Esiane sɛ wode wo ho ato Aramhene so, na woagya Awurade wo Onyankopɔn enti, worentumi nni Aramhene akodɔm so.
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 Wonkae deɛ ɛbaa Etiopiafoɔ no ne Libiafoɔ ne wɔn akodɔm dodoɔ ne wɔn nteaseɛnam ne wɔn apɔnkɔsotefoɔ so no? Saa ɛberɛ no, na wode wo ho to Awurade so, na ɔde wɔn nyinaa hyɛɛ wo nsa.
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 Awurade aniwa kyini fa asase so baabiara, sɛdeɛ ɔbɛhyɛ wɔn a wɔde wɔn akoma nyinaa to no so no den. Nkwaseasɛm bɛn na woadi yi! Ɛfiri ɛnnɛ, wobɛkɔ ɔko.”
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 Asa bo fuu Hanani yie sɛ wabɛka saa asɛm yi akyerɛ no, na ɔkyeree no too afiase. Saa ɛberɛ no ara na Asa ahyɛ aseɛ rehyɛ ne nkurɔfoɔ no bi so.
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 Asa ahennie ho nsɛm nkaeɛ, firi ahyɛaseɛ kɔsi awieeɛ no, wɔatwerɛ agu Yuda ne Israel ahemfo nwoma no mu.
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 Nʼadedie mfeɛ aduasa nkron so no, yadeɛ huhu bi yɛɛ Asa nan. Yadeɛ no duruu ne mpɔmpɔnsoɔ a ɛreyɛ akum no mpo no, wanhwehwɛ Awurade mmoa akyiri ɛkwan, na mmom, ɔhwehwɛɛ ayaresafoɔ mmoa.
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 Enti, nʼadedie mfeɛ aduanan baako so no, ɔwuiɛ.
When he had been ruling for almost 40 years, he died.
14 Wɔsiee no ɔboda a ɔno ara twa maa nʼankasa ho no mu wɔ Dawid kurom. Wɔdedaa no mpa a wɔde nnuhwam ne sradehwam ho hwa ahyɛ no ma, na nʼayiyɛ no mu no, nnipa no bɔɔ gyatanaa kɛseɛ bi de hyɛɛ no animuonyam.
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.
