2 Kings 3

1 After Jehoshaphat had been ruling Judah for almost 18 years, Ahab’s son Joram became the king of Israel. He ruled in Samaria [city] for twelve years.

And Joram the son of Achaab began to reign in Israel in the eighteenth year of Josaphat king of Juda, and he reigned twelve years.

2 He did things that Yahweh considered to be evil, but he did not do as much evil as his father and mother had done, and he got rid of the pillar [for worshiping] Baal which his father had made.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, only not as his father, nor as his mother: and he removed the pillars of Baal which his father had made.

3 But he committed the sins that [King] Jeroboam had committed and which led the Israeli people to sin, and he did not stop committing those sins.

Only he adhered to the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin; he departed not from it.

4 Mesha, the king of Moab, raised sheep. [Every year] he was forced to give 100,000 lambs and the wool from 100,000 rams to the king of Israel, [because his kingdom was controlled by the king of Israel].

And Mosa king of Moab was a sheep-master, and he rendered to the king of Israel in the beginning [of the year], a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool.

5 But after King Ahab died, Mesha rebelled against the king of Israel.

And it came to pass, after the death of Achaab, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

6 So King Joram left Samaria and gathered together all his soldiers.

And king Joram went forth in that day out of Samaria, and numbered Israel.

7 Then he sent this message to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. So will your army join my army and fight against the army of Moab?” Jehoshaphat replied, “Yes, we will help you. We are ready to do whatever you want us to. My soldiers and my horses are ready to help you.”

And he went and sent to Josaphat king of Juda, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to war? And he said, I will go up: thou art as I, I am as thou; as my people, so [is] thy people, as my horses, so [are] thy horses.

8 He asked, “On which road shall we march to attack them?” Joram replied, “We will go [south to Jerusalem, where your army will join us. Then we will all go south of the Dead Sea, and then turn north] through the Edom Desert.”

And he said, What way shall I go up? and he said, The way of the wilderness of Edom.

9 So the king of Israel [and his army] went with the kings of Judah and Edom [and their armies]. They marched for seven days. Then there was no water left for their soldiers or for their animals that carried supplies.

And the king of Israel went, and the king of Juda, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey; and there was no water for the army, and for the cattle that went with them.

10 The king of Israel exclaimed, “This is a terrible situation! [It seems that] Yahweh will allow the three of us to be captured by [the army of] [MTY] Moab!”

And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the Lord should have called the three kings on their way, to give them into the hand of Moab.

11 Jehoshaphat said, “Is there a prophet here who can ask Yahweh for us [what we should do]?” One of Joram’s army officers said, “Elisha, the son of Shaphat, is here. He was Elijah’s assistant.” [IDM]

And Josaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may enquire of the Lord by him? And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, [There is] here Elisaie son of Saphat, who poured water on the hands of Eliu.

12 Jehoshaphat said, “[It will be good to ask him, because] he speaks what Yahweh tells him to say.” So those three kings went to Elisha.

And Josaphat said, He has the word of the Lord. And the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda, and the king of Edom, went down to him.

13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why do you come to me [RHQ]? Go and ask those prophets that your father and mother consulted!” But Joram replied, “No, [we want you to ask Yahweh, because it seems that] Yahweh is going to allow us three kings to be captured by the army of Moab.”

And Elisaie said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? go to the prophets of thy father, and the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said to him, Has the Lord called the three kings to deliver them into the hands of Moab?

14 Elisha replied, “I serve Yahweh, the commander of the armies of angels in heaven. As surely as he lives, if I did not respect Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not even think about doing anything to help you.

And Elisaie said, [As] the Lord of hosts before whom I stand lives, unless I regarded the presence of Josaphat the king of Juda, I would not have looked on thee, nor seen thee.

15 But, bring a musician to me.” [So they did that]. And when the musician played [on his harp], the power of Yahweh came on Elisha.

And now fetch me a harper. And it came to pass, as the harper harped, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.

16 He said, “Yahweh says that he will cause this dry stream-bed to be full of water.

And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of trenches.

17 The result will be that your soldiers and your animals that carry supplies and your livestock will have plenty of water to drink.

For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain, yet this valley shall be filled with water, and ye, and your flocks, and your cattle shall drink.

18 That is not difficult for Yahweh to do. [But he will do more than that]. He will also enable you to defeat [the army of] Moab.

And this [is] a light [thing] in the eyes of the Lord: I will also deliver Moab into your hand.

19 You will conquer all their beautiful cities, cities that have high walls around them. You must cut down all their fruit trees, stop water from flowing from their springs, and ruin their fertile fields by covering them with rocks.”

And ye shall smite every strong city, and ye shall cut down every good tree, and ye shall stop all wells of water, and spoil every good piece [of land] with stones.

20 The next morning, at the time when they offered the sacrifices [of grain], they were surprised to see water flowing from Edom and covering the ground.

And it came to pass in the morning, when the sacrifice was offered, that, behold! waters came from the way of Edom, and the land was filled with water.

21 When the people of Moab heard that the three kings had come [with their armies] to fight against them, all the men who were able to fight in battles, from the youngest men to the oldest ones, were summoned, and they (took their positions/prepared to fight) at the [southern] border of their land.

And all Moab heard that the three kings were come up to fight against them; and they cried out on every [side, even] all that were girt with a girdle, and they said, Ho! and stood upon the border.

22 But when they rose early the next morning, they saw that the water across from them appeared to be as red as blood.

And they rose early in the morning, and the sun rose upon the waters, and Moab saw the waters on the opposite side red as blood.

23 They exclaimed, “It is blood! The three enemy armies must have fought and killed each other! So let’s go and take everything that they have left!”

And they said, This [is] the blood of the sword; and the kings have fought, and each man has smitten his neighbour; now then to the spoils, Moab.

24 But when they reached the area where the Israeli soldiers had set up their tents, the Israelis attacked the soldiers from Moab and forced them to retreat. The Israeli soldiers pursued the soldiers from Moab and killed many of them.

And they entered into the camp of Israel; and Israel arose and smote Moab, and they fled from before them; and they went on and smote Moab as they went.

25 The Israelis also destroyed their cities. And whenever they passed fertile fields, they threw rocks on those fields, until the fields were covered with rocks. They stopped water from flowing from the springs and cut down the fruit trees. Finally, only [the capital city, ] Kir-Hareseth, remained. The Israeli soldiers who threw stones with slings surrounded the city and attacked it.

And they razed the cities, and cast every man his stone on every good piece [of land] and filled it; and they stopped every well, and cut down every good tree, until they left [only] the stones of the wall cast down; and the slingers compassed [the land], and smote it.

26 When the king of Moab realized that his army was being defeated, he took with him 700 men who fought with swords, and they tried to force a way through the Israeli lines of soldiers to escape to [get help from] the king of Syria, but they were unable to escape.

And the king of Moab saw that the battle prevailed against him; and he took with him seven hundred men that drew sword, to cut through to the king of Edom: and they could not.

27 Then the king of Moab took his oldest son, who would have become the next king, and killed him and offered him for a sacrifice [to their god Chemosh], burning him on top of the city wall. The Israeli soldiers were horrified, with the result that they left that city and returned to their own country.

And he took his eldest son whom he had designed to reign in his stead, and offered him up for a whole-burnt-offering on the walls. And there was a great indignation against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their land.