2 Tawarikh 16:4-14

16:4 Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel. ¹  They conquered ²  Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, ³  and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 16:5 When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying ⁴  Ramah and abandoned the project. ⁵  16:6 King Asa ordered all the men of Judah to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah. ⁶  He used the materials to build up ⁷  Geba and Mizpah.

16:7 At that time Hanani the prophet ⁸  visited King Asa of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 16:8 Did not the Cushites and Libyans have a huge army with chariots and a very large number of horsemen? But when you relied on the Lord, he handed them over to you! 16:9 Certainly ⁹  the Lord watches the whole earth carefully ¹⁰  and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him. ¹¹  You have acted foolishly in this matter; from now on you will have war. 16:10 Asa was so angry at the prophet, he put him in jail. ¹²  Asa also oppressed some of the people at that time.

Asa’s Reign Ends

16:11 The events of Asa’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹³  16:12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a foot disease. ¹⁴  Though his disease was severe, he did not seek the Lord, but only the doctors. ¹⁵  16:13 Asa passed away ¹⁶  in the forty-first year of his reign. 16:14 He was buried in the tomb he had carved out in the City of David. ¹⁷  They laid him to rest on a bier covered with spices and assorted mixtures of ointments. They made a huge bonfire to honor him. ¹⁸ 

[16:4]  ¹ tn Heb “and Ben Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of the armies which belonged to him against the cities of Israel.”

[16:4]  ² tn Heb “They struck down.”

[16:4]  ³ sn In the parallel passage in 1 Kgs 15:20, this city’s name appears as Abel Beth Maacah. These appear to be variant names for the same place.

[16:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “building.”

[16:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he caused his work to cease.”

[16:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “and King Asa took all Judah and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its wood which Baasha had built.”

[16:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he built with them.”

[16:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “the seer.”

[16:9]  ⁹ tn Or “for.”

[16:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord move quickly through all the earth.”

[16:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to strengthen himself with their heart, [the one] complete toward him.”

[16:10]  ¹² tn Heb “and Asa was angry at the seer, and he put him [in] the house of stocks, because of his rage with him over this.”

[16:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “Look, the events of Asa, the former and the latter, look, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel.”

[16:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “became sick in his feet.”

[16:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “unto upwards [i.e., very severe [was] his sickness, and even in his sickness he did not seek the Lord, only the healers.

[16:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “lay down with his fathers, and he died.”

[16:14]  ¹⁷ sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.

[16:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and they burned for him a large fire, very great.”