^17 (A)And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and ^(B)built up Ramah ^(C)in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ Then ^(D)Asa took all the silver and the gold which were left in the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the treasuries of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And ^(E)King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in ^(F)Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “Let there be a ^(G)covenant between ^[a]you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” ²⁰ So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military force against the cities of Israel, and struck down ^(H)Ijon, ^(I)Dan, ^(J)Abel-beth-maacah and all ^(K)Chinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ Now it happened that when Baasha heard of it, ^(L)he ceased building up Ramah and remained in ^(M)Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa caused an announcement to be heard throughout all Judah—none was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building. And King Asa built with them ^(N)Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

Asa Wars Against Baasha

16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign ^(A)Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built up Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ² Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, ³ “Let there be a covenant between ^[a]you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” ⁴ So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military forces against the cities of Israel, and they struck down Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all ^(B)the ^[b]store cities of Naphtali. ⁵ Now it happened that when Baasha heard of it, he ceased building up Ramah and stopped his work. ⁶ Then King Asa brought 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.