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.

Joram, son of Ahab, became king of Israel in the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah. He reigned in Samaria 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.

He did evil in the Lord's sight, but not like his father and mother had done, for he got rid of the stone image of Baal that 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.

However, he still held on to the sins that Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had made Israel commit—he did not give them up.

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].

Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheep breeder. He used to provide a tribute to the king of Israel of one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams.

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

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

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

Immediately King Joram called up the whole Israelite army and left Samaria.

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.”

On his way he sent a message to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you join me in an attack on Moab?” Jehoshaphat replied, “Yes, I will join you. You and I are as one, my men and your men are as one, and my horses and your horses are as one.”

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.”

Then he asked, “Which way shall we go?” “We'll take the road through the desert of Edom,” he replied.

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.

So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set off. Having followed an indirect route for seven days, they ran out of water for their army and for their animals.

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!”

“What are we doing?” complained the king of Israel. “The Lord has brought us three kings here to hand us over to the Moabites!”

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]

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn't there a prophet of the Lord here with us? Let us consult the Lord through him.” One of the king of Israel's officers answered, “Elisha, son of Shaphat, is here. He was Elijah's assistant.”

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.

Jehoshaphat agreed, “The Lord communicates by him.” So the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went to see 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.”

Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I got to do with you? Go to your own prophets, those of your father and your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No—because it's the Lord who has brought these three kings here to hand them over to the Moabites!”

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.

Elisha replied, “As the Lord Almighty lives, the one I serve, if I didn't respect the fact that Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, is here, I wouldn't even look in your direction or acknowledge 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.

Now bring me a musician.” While the musician played, the Lord's power came upon Elisha,

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

and he announced, “This is what the Lord says: This valley will be filled with pools of water. For the Lord says:

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

You won't see any wind, you won't see any rain, but even so this valley will be filled with water. You will drink, and your cattle, and your animals.

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.

The Lord views this as something trivial to do; and he will also make you victorious over the Moabites.

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.”

You will conquer every fortified town, and every important town. You will chop down every good tree, block up every spring, and spoil every good field by throwing stones on them.”

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.

The next day, around the time of the morning sacrifice, water suddenly flowed from the direction of Edom, filling the whole countryside 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.

All the Moabites had heard that the kings had come to attack them. So everyone who could wear a sword, young and old, was called up and went to guard 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.

But the next morning when they got up the sun was shining on the water, and to the Moabites on the other side it looked blood red.

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!”

“This is blood!” they said. “The kings and their armies must have attacked and killed each other! Moabites, let's grab the plunder!”

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.

But when the Moabites arrived at the Israelite camp, the Israelites ran out and attacked them, and they ran away from them. So the Israelites invaded their country and killed the Moabites.

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.

They destroyed the towns, and each soldier threw stones on every good field until it was covered. They blocked up every spring and chopped down every good tree. Only Kir-haraseth still had its walls, but soldiers using slingshots surrounded it and attacked it as well.

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.

When the king of Moab realized he'd lost the battle, he led seven hundred swordsmen in an attempt to break through and attack the king of Edom, but they weren't able to do so.

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.

So the king of Moab took his firstborn son, who was meant to succeed him, and sacrificed him as a burnt offering on the town wall. Great anger came upon the Israelites, so they left and went back to their own country.