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.