King Pul of Assyria came against the land; Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, so that he might help him confirm his hold on the royal power.
Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king’s house and sent them to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who resided in Damascus, saying,
You have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, for they are full of diviners from the East and of soothsayers like the Philistines, and they clasp hands with foreigners.
The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on your ancestral house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”