Scriptures

New Living Translation (NLT)

2 Chronicles 15
¹⁶ King Asa even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole, broke it up, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
¹⁷ Although the pagan shrines were not removed from Israel, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful throughout his life.
¹⁸ He brought into the Temple of God the silver and gold and the various items that he and his father had dedicated.
¹⁹ So there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
2 Chronicles 16
¹ In 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.
² Asa 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 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.”
⁴ Ben-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, and all the store cities in Naphtali.
⁵ As soon as Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah and stopped all work on it.
⁶ Then 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.
⁷ At 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.