2 Chronicles 16
16
Final Years of Asa’s Reign
1In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa’s territory in Judah.
2Asa responded by removing the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace. He sent it to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, along with this message:
3“Let there be a treaty#16:3 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads There is a treaty. between you and me like the one between your father and my father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.”
4Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa’s request and sent the commanders of his army to attack the towns of Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah,#16:4 As in parallel text at 1 Kgs 15:20; Hebrew reads Abel-maim, another name for Abel-beth-maacah. and all the store cities in Naphtali. 5As soon as Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah and stopped all work on it. 6Then King Asa called out all the men of Judah to carry away the building stones and timbers that Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah. Asa used these materials to fortify the towns of Geba and Mizpah.
7At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. 8Don’t you remember what happened to the Ethiopians#16:8a Hebrew Cushites. and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and charioteers?#16:8b Or and horsemen? At that time you relied on the Lord, and he handed them over to you. 9The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”
10Asa became so angry with Hanani for saying this that he threw him into prison and put him in stocks. At that time Asa also began to oppress some of his people.
Summary of Asa’s Reign
11The rest of the events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord’s help but turned only to his physicians. 13So he died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14He was buried in the tomb he had carved out for himself in the City of David. He was laid on a bed perfumed with sweet spices and fragrant ointments, and the people built a huge funeral fire in his honor.
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2 Chronicles 16: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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2 Chronicles 16
16
1In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign,#16:1. Probably calculated from the beginning of the southern kingdom, rather than Asa's personal reign. See 1 Kings 15. This would also apply to the preceding verse. Baasha, king of Israel, invaded Judah. He fortified Ramah to stop anyone coming from or going to Asa, king of Judah.#16:1. This action was presumably mainly to prevent the continued exodus of people to the southern kingdom.
2Asa took the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord's Temple and the king's palace and sent them to Ben-hadad, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, with a message that said:
3“Make an alliance between me and you like the one between my father and your father. Look at the silver and gold I've sent you. Go ahead and break your agreement with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he will leave me and go home.”
4King Ben-hadad did as Asa had asked, and he sent his armies and their commanders to attack the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the storehouse towns of Naphtali. 5When Baasha heard about it, he stopped fortifying Ramah and gave up his project. 6So King Asa went with all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and the timbers Baasha had used for building, and with them he built up Geba and Mizpah.
7But right then Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Judah, and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram and have not put your trust in the Lord your God, your opportunity to destroy the army of the king of Aram has gone. 8Didn't the Ethiopians and Libyans have a huge army with many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you trusted in the Lord, he made you victorious over them. 9For the Lord looks all over the earth for the opportunity to show his power on behalf of those who are completely and sincerely devoted to him. You have acted stupidly in doing this. So from now on you will always be at war.”
10Asa was angry with the seer. He was so angry with him over this that he put him in prison. At this same time Asa started to mistreat some of the people.
11The rest of what Asa did, from beginning to end, is written down in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa had trouble with disease in his feet, which only became worse and worse. Yet even in his sickness he did not turn to the Lord, but only the physicians. 13Asa died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14He was buried in the tomb that he had prepared for himself in the City of David. They placed him on a bed full of spices, perfumed oils, and fragrances. Then they made a great fire to honor him.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com