¹⁷ Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and he built Ramah to hinder the coming and going of anyone to Asa^[a] 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.”