since he was wiser and more powerful than all his sons, even in all the regions of Judah and Benjamin, and in all the fortified cities. And he provided them with very much food, and he sought many wives.
Then king Asa took all of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and the wood that Baasha had prepared for the things to be built. And he built up Gibeah and Mizpah with them.
And he appointed numbers of soldiers in all the cities of Judah that had been fortified with walls. And he placed garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had seized.
And their father gave to them many gifts of silver, and gold, and valuables, with very fortified cities in Judah. But the kingdom he handed on to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.
Indeed, he went out and fought against the Philistines. And he destroyed the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod. Also, he built towns in Ashdod, and among the Philistines.
And the army of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that remained, against Lachish and against Azekah. For only these remained out of the cities of Judah that were fortified cities.