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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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].

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.

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

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

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

Therefore, king Joram departed on that day from Samaria, and he took a count of all of 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And he sent to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, saying: “The king of Moab has withdrawn from me.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.”

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

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.

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.

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, alas, alas! The Lord has gathered we three kings, so that he might deliver us into the hands 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 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.”

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 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.

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.”

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?”

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 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.

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.

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

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

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

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 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.

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

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 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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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: “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!”

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.