King Baasha of Israel attacks Judah
1 After Asa had been king of Judah for 36 years, King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah. He put a group of his soldiers in Ramah and he made it a strong town. As a result, nobody could travel into Judah or out of Judah, where King Asa ruled.
16:1King Baasha of Israel had been an enemy of Judah since he became king. See 1 Kings 15:16. 16:1Ramah was on the main road about 8 kilometres north of Jerusalem. It was a town that was part of Asa's kingdom, in land that belonged to Benjamin's tribe.
2 Then Asa took all the silver and gold that they had stored in the Lord's temple and in the king's palace. He sent it to Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus. 3 He also sent this message to Ben-Hadad: ‘We should make an agreement to be friends, as our fathers did. I am sending you this silver and gold. Please stop being friends with Baasha, king of Israel. If you no longer help him, he will have to take his soldiers out of my country.’
4 Ben-Hadad agreed to do what King Asa asked him to do. He sent his army with its leaders to attack towns in Israel. They won the battles at Ijon, Dan, Abel-Maim and all the cities of Naphtali's tribe where they stored things. 5 When King Baasha heard this news, he stopped the work in Ramah and he went away. 6 Then King Asa told all the men in Judah to do some hard work. They had to carry away from Ramah all the big stones and the wood that Baasha had been using there. Then King Asa used those things to make Geba and Mizpah strong towns again.