SARAH
（《历代志下》第16章）
(2 Chronicles 16)
亚撒当了三十六年犹大王的时候，以色列王巴沙就带着人来找事儿了。
When Asa had been king of Judah for thirty-six years, Baasha king of Israel came looking for trouble.
他在拉玛修城墙，想把路给堵上，不让老百姓进出犹大。
He was building up the walls of Ramah, trying to block the road so that people could not enter or leave Judah.
搞得亚撒有点头疼。
That gave Asa quite a headache.
可不知道他这回怎么想的。
But I don’t know what Asa was thinking this time.
他没去求上帝，反倒自己在那瞎琢磨：“这事儿有点麻烦啊，我还找外援吧！”
Instead of seeking God, he started thinking on his own, “This is getting a little complicated. I’d better find some outside help!”
于是，他把耶和华圣殿里和王宫仓库里剩下的金银都拿了出来，给大马士革的亚兰王便哈达送过去，还跟他说：
So he took out the gold and silver that remained in the temple of the LORD and in the royal palace treasuries, sent them to Ben-hadad, king of Aram, in Damascus, and said to him:
“咱俩以前的老辈儿们不是有交情嘛！你爸跟我爸立过约。现在咱俩也立一个约。你把你跟以色列王巴沙的约撕了，帮我把巴沙赶走。”
“Didn’t our fathers have an agreement with each other? Your father made a treaty with my father. Now you and I should make a treaty too. Break your agreement with Baasha king of Israel, and help me drive Baasha away.”
便哈达一听：“这是一桩不错的买卖，有金银拿，那就这么定了！”
When Ben-hadad heard this, he said, “That’s a pretty good deal. There’s gold and silver involved, so let’s do it!”
于是亚兰王派军队去攻打以色列。
So the king of Aram sent his armies to attack Israel.
这一顿打下来，以色列好几个城都被拿下了，连那些存粮食、货物的大城也让人给端了。
After the attack, several cities in Israel were captured, including the store cities where food and goods were kept.
巴沙一听：“妈呀，后院起火了！”
When Baasha heard about it, he said, “Oh my goodness! My own backyard is on fire!”
于是赶紧停修拉玛修城墙，自己跑回得撒去了。
So he quickly stopped building the walls of Ramah and went back to Tirzah.
亚撒知道后心中喜悦，机会来了！
When Asa heard this, he was delighted. The opportunity had come!
他带着犹大人，把巴沙原来修拉玛的石头、木头全给搬走了，然后拿去修基巴和米斯巴。
He took the people of Judah and carried away all the stones and timber that Baasha had used to build Ramah, and then used them to build Geba and Mizpah.
看似亚撒这一招挺聪明，问题也解决了。
It looked like Asa had made a pretty clever move, and the problem seemed to be solved.
但是，事情还没完。
But the story wasn’t over yet.
这时候，先见哈拿尼来找亚撒。
At that time, Hanani the seer came to Asa.
哈拿尼跟他说：
Hanani said to him:
“亚撒王啊，你这回可整差了。”
“King Asa, you really got this one wrong.”
“你咋没依靠耶和华，反倒去依靠亚兰王呢？”
“Why didn’t you rely on the LORD? Why did you rely on the king of Aram instead?”
“你忘了以前古实人和路比人吗？他们人多不多？战车马兵多不多？”
“Don’t you remember the Cushites and the Libyans before? Weren’t there a lot of them? Didn’t they have many chariots and horsemen?”
“那时候你依靠耶和华，上帝不照样把他们交到你手里吗？”
“Back then, you relied on the LORD, and didn’t God deliver them into your hands?”
然后哈拿尼说了一句特别重要的话：
Then Hanani said something especially important:
“耶和华的眼目遍察全地，要显大能帮助向他心存诚实的人。”
“The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
意思就是说：
What this means is:
“亚撒啊，你以为你找外援挺聪明，其实真正能救你的，是上帝。”
“Asa, you may think finding outside help is clever, but the One who can truly save you is God.”
“上帝一直在看着全地，谁是真心依靠祂的，祂就帮助谁。”
“God’s eyes are always watching the whole earth, and He helps those who truly rely on Him.”
哈拿尼又劝说：
Hanani continued to warn him:
“你这事儿办得不太明智。从今往后，你还得经历不少战争。”
“What you have done was not very wise. From now on, you will have many more wars.”
亚撒一听这话，就不乐意了。心想： ”咋的！我还是王不！“
When Asa heard this, he wasn’t happy. He thought, “What? Am I not still the king?”
他这次没谦卑下来。没说：“我错了。”
This time, he did not humble himself. He didn’t say, “I was wrong.”
反倒火了，把先见哈拿尼给关进监牢里。
Instead, he became angry and had Hanani the seer put in prison.
亚撒不光对先见无礼，他还开始欺负一些老百姓。
Asa was not only disrespectful toward the seer; he also began to mistreat some of the people.
后来到了亚撒作王第三十九年的时候，他脚上得了重病。
Later, in the thirty-ninth year of Asa’s reign, he became seriously ill with a disease in his feet.
按理说，这时候他应该悔改？
Normally, this would have been the time for him to repent, right?
但亚撒还是没这么做。
But Asa still did not do so.
圣经说：
The Bible says:
“他仍没有求耶和华，他求医生。”
“Yet even in his illness he did not seek the LORD, but only the physicians.”
这不是说人生病不能找医生。
This does not mean that a sick person should not see a doctor.
而是说，亚撒到了这么严重的时候，心还是没有转向上帝。
Rather, it means that even when Asa became so seriously ill, his heart still did not turn back to God.
最后，亚撒作王四十一年，死了。
Finally, in the forty-first year of his reign, Asa died.
人把他葬在大卫城里他自己预备的坟墓中，又给他预备了很多香料和香膏，也为他烧了许多东西。
They buried him in the tomb he had prepared for himself in the City of David, placed many spices and fragrant ointments around him, and burned a great amount of incense in his honor.