Chronicles II 16

1 And in the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Asa, the king of Israel went up against Juda, and built Rama, so as not to allow egress or ingress to Asa king of Juda.

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 took silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king's house, and sent [them] to the son of Ader king of Syria, which dwelt 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 Make a covenant between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee gold and silver: come, and turn away from me Baasa king of Israel, and let him 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 And the son of Ader hearkened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his host against the cities of Israel; and smote Aeon, and Dan, and Abelmain, and all the country round Nephthali.

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 came to pass when Baasa heard [it] he left off building Rama, and put a stop to his work:

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

6 then king Asa took all Juda, and took the stones of Rama, and its timber, [with] which Baasa [had] built; and he built with them Gabae and Maspha.

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 came Anani the prophet to Asa king of Juda, and said to him, Because thou didst trust on the king of Syria, and didst not trust on the Lord thy God, therefore the army of Syria is escaped out of 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 Were not the Ethiopians and Libyans a great force, in courage, in horsemen, in great numbers? and did not He deliver them into thy hands, because thou trustedst in the Lord?

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 look upon all the earth, to strengthen every heart that is perfect toward him. In this thou hast done foolishly; henceforth there shall be war with thee.

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 was angry with the prophet, and put him in prison, for he was angry at this: and Asa vexed 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, behold, the acts of Asa, the first and the last, [are] written in the book of the kings of Juda 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 was diseased [in] his feet in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, until he was very ill: but in his disease he sought not to 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 And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the fortieth year of his reign.

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

14 And they buried him in the sepulchre which he had dug for himself in the city of David, and they laid him on a bed, and filled [it] with spices and [all] kinds of perfumes of the apothecaries; and they made for him a very great funeral.

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.