The Reign of Asa in Judah

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa became the king of Judah. ¹⁰ He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹ Asa did right in the eyes of Yahweh, like David his ancestor.^{[a] 12} He put away the male shrine prostitutes from the land, and he removed all of the idols that his ancestors^[b] made. ¹³ Also, he had Maacah his mother removed from the office of queen mother, as she had made a repulsive image for the Asherah. Asa also cut down her repulsive image and burned it in the Wadi^[c] Kidron. ¹⁴ But the high places he did not remove. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was completely with Yahweh all of his days. ¹⁵ He brought the holy objects of his father and his own holy objects to the house of Yahweh, silver and gold and utensils.

¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all of their days. ¹⁷ Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and he built Ramah to hinder the coming and going of anyone to Asa^[d] king of Judah. ¹⁸ Asa took all of the silver and gold remaining in the storerooms of the house of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the house of the king, and he gave them into the hand of his servants; so King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “Let there be a covenant between me and you, between my father and your father. Look, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel that he may go up away from me.” ²⁰ Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and he attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Maacah, and all of Kinnereth, in addition to all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasha heard, he stopped building Ramah, and he lived in Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa proclaimed among all of Israel that there was no one free from obligation, so they carried the stones of Ramah and its wood with which Baasha had built, and King Asa rebuilt Geba in Benjamin with them, and the Mizpah. ²³ The remainder of the acts of Asa, all of his achievements, all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? But at the time of his old age, he developed a foot disease.^{[e] 24} Asa slept with his ancestors^[f] and was buried with his ancestors^[g] in the city of David his ancestor;^[h] Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place.