17. Baasha fought against Judah. He wanted to stop people from leaving or entering Asa’s country, Judah. So he made the city of Ramah very strong.
18. Then Asa took all the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and his own palace. He gave it to his officers. And he sent them to Ben-Hadad king of Aram. (Ben-Hadad was the son of Tabrimmon. And he was the son of Hezion.) Ben-Hadad was ruling in the city of Damascus.
19. Asa sent this message: “My father and your father had a peace agreement. I am sending you a gift of gold and silver. Break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will leave my land.”
20. Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa. So he sent his army to fight against the towns of Israel. He defeated the towns of Ijon, Dan and Abel Bethmaacah. And he defeated all the land near Lake Galilee and the area of Naphtali.
21. Baasha heard about these attacks. So he stopped building up Ramah and returned to Tirzah.
22. Then King Asa gave an order to all the people of Judah. Everyone had to help. They carried away all the stones and wood Baasha had been using in Ramah. King Asa used those things to build up Geba and Mizpah. (Geba was in the land of Benjamin.)
23. Everything else Asa did is written down. His victories and the cities he built are written down. They are in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. When he became old, he got a disease in his feet.
24. Then Asa died. And he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem. It was the city of David, his ancestor. Then Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became king in his place.
25. Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel. This was during the second year Asa was king of Judah. And Nadab was king of Israel for two years.
26. He did what the Lord said was wrong. Jeroboam had caused the people of Israel to sin. Nadab sinned in the same way his father Jeroboam had sinned.
27. Baasha son of Ahijah was from the tribe of Issachar. He made plans to kill Nadab. Nadab and all Israel were attacking the Philistine town of Gibbethon. So Baasha killed Nadab there.
28. This happened during Asa’s third year as king of Judah. And Baasha became the next king of Israel.
29. As soon as Baasha became king, he killed all of Jeroboam’s family. He left no one in Jeroboam’s family alive. This happened as the Lord had said it would. The Lord had said this through his servant Ahijah from Shiloh.
30. This happened because King Jeroboam had sinned very much. And he had caused the people of Israel to sin. Jeroboam had made the Lord, the God of Israel, very angry.
31. Everything else Nadab did is written down. It is in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.