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.
UJehoramu indodana kaAhabi waba-ke yinkosi phezu kukaIsrayeli eSamariya ngomnyaka wetshumi lesificaminwembili kaJehoshafathi inkosi yakoJuda; wabusa iminyaka elitshumi lambili.
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.
Wasesenza okubi emehlweni eNkosi, kodwa kungenjengoyise lanjengonina, ngoba wasusa insika kaBhali eyisithombe uyise ayeyenzile.
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.
Loba kunjalo wanamathela ezonweni zikaJerobhowamu indodana kaNebati owenza uIsrayeli one, kasukanga kukho.
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].
Njalo uMesha inkosi yakoMowabi wayengumfuyi wezimvu, wayethela enkosini yakoIsrayeli amawundlu azinkulungwane ezilikhulu, lezinqama ezizinkulungwane ezilikhulu, loboya bezimvu.
5 But after King Ahab died, Mesha rebelled against the king of Israel.
Kodwa kwathi uAhabi esefile, inkosi yakoMowabi yavukela inkosi yakoIsrayeli.
6 So King Joram left Samaria and gathered together all his soldiers.
Inkosi uJehoramu yasiphuma ngalesosikhathi eSamariya, yabala uIsrayeli wonke.
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.”
Yasihamba yathumela kuJehoshafathi inkosi yakoJuda isithi: Inkosi yakoMowabi isingivukele; uzahamba lami yini siye koMowabi empini? Wasesithi: Ngizakwenyuka. Nginjengawe, njengabantu bami banjalo abantu bakho, njengamabhiza ami anjalo amabhiza akho.
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.”
Yasisithi: Sizakwenyuka ngayiphi indlela? Wasesithi: Ngendlela yenkangala yeEdoma.
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.
Yasihamba inkosi yakoIsrayeli, lenkosi yakoJuda, lenkosi yeEdoma; sebebhode uhambo lwensuku eziyisikhombisa, kwakungelamanzi ebutho lawezifuyo ezibalandelayo.
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!”
Inkosi yakoIsrayeli yasisithi: Maye, ngoba uJehova ubize la amakhosi amathathu ukuwanikela esandleni sikaMowabi!
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]
Kodwa uJehoshafathi wathi: Kakulamprofethi weNkosi lapha yini esingabuza ngaye iNkosi? Enye yenceku zenkosi yakoIsrayeli yasiphendula yathi: Kukhona lapha uElisha indodana kaShafati owathela amanzi ezandleni zikaElija.
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.
UJehoshafathi wasesithi: Ilizwi leNkosi likuye. Ngakho inkosi yakoIsrayeli loJehoshafathi lenkosi yeEdoma behlela kuye.
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.”
UElisha wasesithi enkosini yakoIsrayeli: Ngilani lawe? Hamba kubaprofethi bakayihlo lakubaprofethi bakanyoko. Kodwa inkosi yakoIsrayeli yathi kuye: Hatshi, ngoba iNkosi ibize lamakhosi amathathu ukuwanikela esandleni sikaMowabi.
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.
UElisha wasesithi: Kuphila kukaJehova wamabandla engimi phambi kwakhe, sibili, uba bengingaphakamisi ubukhona bukaJehoshafathi inkosi yakoJuda, bengingayikukukhangela njalo ngingakuboni.
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.
Ngakho-ke ngilethelani umtshayi wechacho. Kwathi umtshayi wechacho eselitshaya, isandla seNkosi saba phezu kwakhe.
16 He said, “Yahweh says that he will cause this dry stream-bed to be full of water.
Wasesithi: Itsho njalo iNkosi: Yenzani lesisihotsha sibe yimigelogelo.
17 The result will be that your soldiers and your animals that carry supplies and your livestock will have plenty of water to drink.
Ngoba itsho njalo iNkosi: Kaliyikubona umoya njalo kaliyikubona izulu, kodwa lesisihotsha sizagcwaliswa ngamanzi, ukuze linathe lina, lenkomo zenu lezifuyo zenu.
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.
Kodwa lokhu kulula emehlweni eNkosi: Izanikela lamaMowabi esandleni senu.
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.”
Njalo lizatshaya wonke umuzi obiyelweyo, lawo wonke umuzi okhethekileyo, ligamule sonke isihlahla esihle, ligqibele yonke imithombo yamanzi, lone yonke insimu enhle ngamatshe.
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.
Kwasekusithi ekuseni ekunikelweni komnikelo wokudla, khangela-ke, kwafika amanzi evelela endleleni yeEdoma, ilizwe laseligcwaliswa ngamanzi.
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.
Wonke amaMowabi esezwile ukuthi amakhosi enyukile ukulwa emelene lawo, abizelwa ndawonye, kusukela kuye wonke obhinca izikhali kusiya phezulu, asesima emngceleni.
22 But when they rose early the next morning, they saw that the water across from them appeared to be as red as blood.
Asevuka ekuseni kakhulu; ilanga selikhanya phezu kwamanzi, amaMowabi abona amanzi emaqondana lawo ebomvu njengegazi.
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!”
Asesithi: Ligazi leli; amakhosi achithiwe lokuchithwa, asetshayene. Ngakho-ke, empangweni, Mowabi!
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.
Kwathi efika enkambeni yakoIsrayeli, amaIsrayeli asukuma atshaya amaMowabi, aze abaleka esuka phambi kwawo; kodwa angena elizweni atshaya amaMowabi.
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.
Asediliza imizi; ngulowo wasephosa ilitshe lakhe kuyo yonke insimu enhle, ayigcwalisa, agqibela yonke imithombo yamanzi, agamula zonke izihlahla ezinhle, kwaze kwasala amatshe ayo eKiri-Haresethi kuphela; kodwa abaphosa ngezavutha bayigombolozela, bayitshaya.
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.
Inkosi yakoMowabi isibonile ukuthi impi ilukhuni kakhulu kuyo, yathatha abantu abangamakhulu ayisikhombisa abahwatsha inkemba kanye layo, ukuze ifohlele enkosini yeEdoma, kodwa behluleka.
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.
Yasithatha indodana yayo elizibulo eyayizakuba yinkosi esikhundleni sayo, yayinikela yaba ngumnikelo wokutshiswa phezu komduli. Kwasekusiba lolaka olukhulu olumelene loIsrayeli; basebesuka kuyo babuyela elizweni lakibo.
