^17 (A)Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and ^(B)built Ramah, ^(C)that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and the gold ^(D)that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house and gave them into the hands of his servants. ^(E)And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ^(F)who lived in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “Let there be ^(G)a covenant^[a] between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” ²⁰ And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and conquered ^(H)Ijon, ^(I)Dan, ^(J)Abel-beth-maacah, and all ^(K)Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ And when Baasha heard of it, ^(L)he stopped building Ramah, and he lived in ^(M)Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, none was exempt, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them King Asa built ^(N)Geba of Benjamin and ^(O)Mizpah.