2
So Asa brought out the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord's temple and the royal palace and sent it to Aram's King Ben-hadad, who lived in Damascus, saying,
3
"There's a treaty between me and you, between my father and your father. Look, I have sent you silver and gold. Go break your treaty with Israel's King Baasha so that he will withdraw from me."
4
Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies to the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.
5
When Baasha heard [about it], he quit building Ramah and stopped his work.
6
Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had built it with. Then he built Geba and Mizpah with them.
Hanani's Rebuke of Asa
7 At that time, Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and said to him, "Because you depended on the king of Aram and have not depended on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.
8
Were not the Cushites and Libyans a vast army with very many chariots and horsemen? When you depended on the Lord, He handed them over to you.
9
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His. You have been foolish in this matter, for from now on, you will have wars."
10
Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison because of his anger over this. And Asa mistreated some of the people at that time.
Asa's Death
11 Note that the events of Asa's [reign], from beginning to end, are written about in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
12
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a disease in his feet, and his disease became increasingly severe. Yet even in his disease he didn't seek the Lord but the physicians.