The Scriptures (ISR 1998) 1In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Ba‛asha the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl came up against Yehuḏah and built Ramah, to prevent anyone going out or coming in to Asa, sovereign of Yehuḏah. 2And Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the House of יהוה and of the sovereign’s house, and sent to Ben-Haḏaḏ sovereign of Aram, who dwelt in Darmeseq, saying, 3“Let there be a covenant between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold. Come, break your covenant with Ba‛asha sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, so that he withdraws from me.” 4And Ben-Haḏaḏ listened to Sovereign Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Yisra’ĕl, and they smote Iyon, and Dan, and Aḇĕl Mayim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 5And it came to be, when Ba‛asha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work. 6Then Asa the sovereign brought all Yehuḏah, and they took away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Ba‛asha had used for building. And with them he built Geḇa and Mitspah. 7And at that time Ḥanani the seer came to Asa sovereign of Yehuḏah, and said to him, “Because you have relied on the sovereign of Aram, and have not relied on יהוה your Elohim, therefore the army of the sovereign of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8“Were the Kushites and the Luḇim not a mighty army with very many chariots and horsemen? And because you relied on יהוה, He gave them into your hand. 9“For the eyes of יהוה diligently search throughout all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect to Him. You have acted foolishly in this, so from now on you shall have battles.” 10And Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time. 11And look, the acts of Asa, the first and the last, see, they are written in the book of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah and Yisra’ĕl. 12And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his disease was severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek יהוה, but the physicians. 13So Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14And they buried him in his own tomb, which he had made for himself in the City of Dawiḏ. And they laid him in the bed which was filled with spices and various kinds of ointments mixed by the perfumer’s skill. And they made a very great burning for him. |