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.

Now in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Joram son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria; 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.

He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, but not like his father and his mother; for he removed the sacred stone pillar 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.

Nevertheless he held on to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin; he did not turn away from them.

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 king of Moab bred sheep. He had to give to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 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.

So King Joram left Samaria at that time to mobilize all Israel for war.

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.”

He sent a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me against Moab to battle?” Jehoshaphat replied, “I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as 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.”

Then he said, “By which way should we attack?” Jehoshaphat answered, “By 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.

So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They wandered around for seven days, and then there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed 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!”

So the king of Israel said, “What is this? Has Yahweh called three kings 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]

But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here a prophet of Yahweh, that we may consult Yahweh by him?” One of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on 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.

Jehoshaphat said, “The word of Yahweh is with him.” So the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, 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.”

Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and mother.” So the king of Israel said to him, “No, because Yahweh has called these three kings together to give them into the hand 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.

Elisha replied, “As Yahweh of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not for the fact that I honor the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not pay any attention to you, or even look at 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 me a musician.” Then it came to pass when the harpist played, the hand of Yahweh came upon Elisha.

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

He said, “Yahweh says this, 'Make this dry river 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 Yahweh says this, 'You will not see wind, neither will you see rain, but this river valley will be filled with water, and you will drink, you and your livestock and all 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.

This is an easy thing in the sight of Yahweh. He will also give you victory 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 attack every fortified city and every good city, cut down every good tree, stop up all springs of water, and ruin every good piece of land with rocks.”

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.

So in the morning about the time of offering the sacrifice, there came water from the direction of Edom; the country 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.

Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all who were able to put on armor, and they stood at 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.

They awakened early in the morning and the sun reflected on the water. When the Moabites saw the water opposite them, it looked as 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!”

They exclaimed, “This is blood! The kings have certainly been destroyed, and they have killed each other! So now, Moab, let us go plunder them!”

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.

When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites surprised them and attacked the Moabites, who fled before them. The army of Israel drove the Moabites across the land, killing them.

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 cities, and on every good piece of land every man threw a rock until it was covered up. They stopped up every spring of water and chopped down all the good trees. Only Kir Hareseth was left with its rocks in place. But the soldiers armed with slings surrounded and attacked 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.

When King Mesha of Moab saw that the battle was lost, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they failed.

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.

Then he took his oldest son, who should have reigned after him, and offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall. So there was great anger against Israel, and the Israelite army left King Mesha and returned to their own land.