2 Chronicles 16

English Standard Version

Asa's Last Years

16 ^(A)In the ^(B)thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, ^(C)that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. ²Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king's house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, ³“There is a covenant^[a] between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” ⁴And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the ^(D)store cities of Naphtali. ⁵And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease. ⁶Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

⁷At that time ^(E)Hanani ^(F)the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, ^(G)“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 you. ⁸Were not ^(H)the Ethiopians and ^(I)the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet ^(J)because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. ⁹^(K)For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those ^(L)whose heart is blameless^[b] toward him. ^(M)You have done foolishly in this, for from now on ^(N)you will have wars.” ¹⁰Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him ^(O)in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.

¹¹^(P)The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹²In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians. ¹³And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴They buried him in the tomb that he had cut for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier ^(Q)that had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer's art, ^(R)and they made a very great fire in his honor.

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 16:3 Or treaty; twice in this verse
2 Chronicles 16:9 Or whole

Isaiah 46

English Standard Version

The Idols of Babylon and the One True God

46 ^(A)Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
    their idols are on beasts and livestock;
these things you carry are borne
    as burdens on weary beasts.
²They stoop; they bow down together;
    they cannot save the burden,
    but ^(B)themselves go into captivity.

³“Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
    all the remnant of the house of Israel,
^(C)who have been borne by me from before your birth,
    carried from the womb;
⁴^(D)even to your old age I am he,
    and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
    I will carry and will save.

⁵^(E)“To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
    and compare me, that we may be alike?
⁶^(F)Those who lavish gold from the purse,
    and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
    ^(G)then they fall down and worship!
⁷^(H)They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
    they set it in its place, and it stands there;
    ^(I)it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
    or save him from his trouble.

⁸“Remember this and stand firm,
    recall it to mind, ^(J)you transgressors,
⁹    remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me,
¹⁰^(K)declaring the end from the beginning
    and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ^(L)‘My counsel shall stand,
    and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
¹¹^(M)calling a bird of prey from the east,
    the man of my counsel from a far country.
^(N)I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
    I have purposed, and I will do it.

¹²“Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
    you who are far from righteousness:
¹³^(O)I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
    and my salvation will not delay;
^(P)I will put salvation in Zion,
    for Israel my glory.”