² Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace and sent it to King Ben Hadad of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message:

³ “I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made.^[a] See, I have sent you silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.”^[b]