2 Kings 3

1 Truly, Joram, the son of Ahab, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. And he reigned for twelve years.

In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Jehoram son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria twelve years.

2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as his father and mother did. For he took away the statues of Baal, which his father had made.

And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He removed the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.

3 Yet truly, he did adhere to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin; neither did he withdraw from these.

Nevertheless, he clung to the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.

4 Now Mesha, the king of Moab, raised many sheep. And he repaid to the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs, and one hundred thousand rams, with their fleece.

Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he would render to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.

5 And when Ahab had died, he transgressed the pact that he had with the king of Israel.

But after the death of Ahab, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

6 Therefore, king Joram departed on that day from Samaria, and he took a count of all of Israel.

So at that time King Jehoram set out from Samaria and mobilized all Israel.

7 And he sent to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, saying: “The king of Moab has withdrawn from me. Come to battle with me against him.” And he responded: “I will go up. What is mine, is yours. My people are your people. And my horses are your horses.”

And he sent a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” “I will go,” replied Jehoshaphat. “I am like you, my people are your people, and my horses are your horses.”

8 And he said, “Along which way shall we ascend?” So he responded, “Along the desert of Idumea.”

Then he asked, “Which way shall we go up?” “By way of the Desert of Edom,” replied Joram.

9 Therefore, the king of Israel, and the king of Judah, and the king of Idumea, traveled, and they went by a circuitous path for seven days. But there was no water for the army or for the beasts of burden which were following them.

So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out, and after they had traveled a roundabout route for seven days, they had no water for their army or for their animals.

10 And the king of Israel said: “Alas, alas, alas! The Lord has gathered we three kings, so that he might deliver us into the hands of Moab.”

“Alas,” said the king of Israel, “for the LORD has summoned these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab!”

11 And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here, so that we may appeal to the Lord through him?” And one of the servants of the king of Israel responded, “Elisha, the son of Shaphat, is here, who poured water upon the hands of Elijah.”

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here? Let us inquire of the LORD through him.” And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.”

12 And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” And so, the king of Israel, with Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and with the king of Idumea, descended to him.

Jehoshaphat affirmed, “The word of the LORD is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

13 Then Elisha said to the king of Israel: “What is there between you and me? Go to the prophets of your father and your mother.” And the king of Israel said to him, “Why has the Lord gathered these three kings, so that he might deliver them into the hands of Moab?”

Elisha, however, said to the king of Israel, “What have we to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and of your mother!” “No,” replied the king of Israel, “for it is the LORD who has summoned these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

14 And Elisha said to him: “As the Lord of hosts lives, in whose sight I stand, if I was not humbled by the face of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, certainly I would neither have listened to you, nor have looked upon you.

Then Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not for my regard for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or acknowledge you.

15 But now, bring a musician to me.” And while the musician was playing, the hand of the Lord fell upon him, and he said:

But now, bring me a harpist.” And while the harpist played, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha

16 “Thus says the Lord: Make, in the channel of this torrent, pit after pit.

and he said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Dig this valley full of ditches.’

17 For thus says the Lord: You shall not see wind or rain. And yet this channel shall be filled with water. And you shall drink, you and your families, and your beasts of burden.

For the LORD says, ‘You will not see wind or rain, but the valley will be filled with water, and you will drink—you and your cattle and your animals.’

18 And this is small in the sight of the Lord. So, in addition, he will also deliver Moab into your hands.

This is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD, and He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

19 And you shall strike every fortified town and every elect city. And you shall cut down every fruitful tree. And you shall obstruct all the sources of water. And you shall cover every excellent field with stones.”

And you shall attack every fortified city and every city of importance. You shall cut down every good tree, stop up every spring, and ruin every good field with stones.”

20 Then it happened that, in the morning, when the sacrifices were usually to be offered, behold, water was arriving along the way of Idumea, and the land was filled with water.

The next morning, at the time of the morning sacrifice, water suddenly flowed from the direction of Edom and filled the land.

21 Then all the Moabites, hearing that the kings had ascended so that they might fight against them, gathered all who had been girded with a belt around them, and they stood at the borders.

Now all the Moabites had heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. So all who could bear arms, young and old, were summoned and stationed at the border.

22 And rising up in early morning, and when the sun was now rising before the waters, the Moabites saw the waters opposite them, which were red like blood.

When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water, and it looked as red as blood to the Moabites across the way.

23 And they said: “It is the blood of the sword! The kings have fought among themselves, and they have slain one another. Go now, Moab, to the spoils!”

“This is blood!” they exclaimed. “The kings have clashed swords and slaughtered one another. Now to the plunder, Moab!”

24 And they went into the camp of Israel. But Israel, rising up, struck Moab, and they fled before them. And since they had prevailed, they went and struck down Moab.

But when the Moabites came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and attacked them, and they fled before them. So the Israelites invaded their land and struck down the Moabites.

25 And they destroyed the cities. And they filled up every excellent field, each one casting stones. And they obstructed all the sources of water. And they cut down all the fruitful trees, to such an extent that only brick walls remained. And the city was encircled by the slingers of stones. And a great part of it was struck down.

They destroyed the cities, and each man threw stones on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up every spring and cut down every good tree. Only Kir-haraseth was left with stones in place, but men with slings surrounded it and attacked it as well.

26 And when the king of Moab had seen this, specifically, that the enemies had prevailed, he took with him seven hundred men who draw the sword, so that he might break through to the king of Idumea. But they were unable.

When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not prevail.

27 And taking his firstborn son, who would have reigned in his place, he offered him as a holocaust upon the wall. And there was great indignation in Israel. And they promptly withdrew from him, and they turned back to their own land.

So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him, and offered him as a burnt offering on the city wall. And there was great fury against the Israelites, so they withdrew and returned to their own land.