< 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.
Ahab babarima Yoram na ɔdii ɔhene wɔ Israel ɛberɛ a na Yudahene Yehosafat adi adeɛ mfeɛ dunwɔtwe wɔ Yuda no. Ɔdii adeɛ wɔ Samaria mfeɛ dumienu.
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.
Ɔyɛɛ Awurade ani so bɔne. Nanso, na nʼamumuyɛ no nte sɛ nʼagya ne ne maame deɛ no. Ɔsɛee Baal adum kronkron a nʼagya siiɛ no.
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.
Nanso ɔtoaa ahonisom so, sɛdeɛ Nebat babarima Yeroboam dii Israelfoɔ anim, ma wɔyɛɛ no.
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].
Na Moabhene Mesa ne ne nkurɔfoɔ yɛn nnwan. Na wɔtua apeatoɔ a ɛyɛ nnwan mma ɔpeha ne nnwennini ɔpeha ho nwi ma Israelhene afe biara.
5 But after King Ahab died, Mesha rebelled against the king of Israel.
Nanso, Ahab wuo akyi no, Moabhene sɔre tiaa Israelhene.
6 So King Joram left Samaria and gathered together all his soldiers.
Enti, ɔhene Yoram firii Samaria boaboaa Israel akodɔm ano.
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.”
Ɛkwan so no, ɔtoo nkra yi kɔmaa Yudahene Yehosafat sɛ, “Moabhene asɔre atia me. Wobɛboa me na me ne no ako anaa?” Na Yehosafat buaa sɛ, “Adɛn enti na meremmoa wo. Wo ne me yɛ anuanom, na mʼakodɔm yɛ wo dea na wotumi di wɔn anim. Mpo mʼapɔnkɔ da wo da.”
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.”
Na Yehosafat bisaa sɛ, “Ɛkwan bɛn na yɛbɛfa so akɔ?” Yoram buaa sɛ, “Yɛbɛtoa wɔn afiri Edom ɛserɛ so.”
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.
Edomhene ne nʼakodɔm kɔkaa wɔn ho, na asraadɔm mmiɛnsa no de nnanson twaa ntwahokwan a ɛfa ɛserɛ so no. Nanso, na nsuo nni hɔ ma mmarima no anaa wɔn mmoa.
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!”
Israelhene teaam bisaa sɛ, “Yɛnyɛ yɛn ho ɛdeɛn? Awurade de yɛn baasa aba ha sɛ Moabhene nni yɛn so.”
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]
Nanso, Yudahene Yehosafat bisaa sɛ, “Enti Awurade odiyifoɔ biara nka yɛn ho ha? Sɛ wɔn mu bi wɔ ha a, yɛbɛtumi abisa Awurade deɛ yɛnyɛ.” Ɔhene Yoram mpanimfoɔ no mu baako kaa sɛ, “Safat babarima Elisa wɔ ha. Na ɔyɛ Elia ɔboafoɔ.”
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.
Enti, Yehosafat kaa sɛ, “Ɛnneɛ, Awurade bɛtumi akasa afa ne so.” Na Israelhene, Yudahene ne Edomhene kɔɔ Elisa nkyɛn abisa.
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.”
Elisa ka kyerɛɛ Israelhene sɛ, “Wo ho nhia me. Kɔ wʼagya ne wo maame adiyifoɔ abosonsomfoɔ no nkyɛn.” Nanso, ɔhene Yoram kaa sɛ, “Dabi! Na ɛyɛ Awurade na ɔfrɛɛ yɛn ahemfo baasa yi baa ha, sɛ Moabhene nsɛe yɛn!”
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.
Na Elisa buaa sɛ, “Mmerɛ dodoɔ a Awurade Otumfoɔ a mesom no te ase yi, sɛ ɛnyɛ Yudahene Yehosafat a mebu no a, anka merenha me ho wɔ wo ho.
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.
Afei, ma obi a ɔbɛtumi abɔ sankuo mmra.” Ɛberɛ a wɔrebɔ sankuo no, Awurade tumi baa Elisa so,
16 He said, “Yahweh says that he will cause this dry stream-bed to be full of water.
ma ɔkaa sɛ, “Sɛdeɛ Awurade seɛ nie: Saa bɔnhwa a emu nsuo awe yi, wɔde nsuo bɛhyɛ no ma.
17 The result will be that your soldiers and your animals that carry supplies and your livestock will have plenty of water to drink.
Worenhunu mframa anaa osuo sɛdeɛ Awurade ka no, nanso saa bɔnhwa yi, wɔbɛhyɛ no nsuo ma. Mobɛnya bi ama mo ho, mo anantwie ne mo mmoa a aka no.
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.
Na yei yɛ ade kumaa bi ma Awurade. Ɔbɛma moadi Moab akodɔm so nkonim.
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.”
Mobɛdi wɔn nkuropɔn papa so nkonim, mpo, nkuropɔn a wɔabɔ ho ban no. Mobɛtwitwa wɔn nnua nyinaa agu. Mobɛsisi wɔn nsuo aniwa, na mode aboɔ asɛe wɔn nsase pa.”
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.
Na adeɛ kyeeɛ; ɛduruu ɛberɛ a wɔbɔ anɔpa afɔdeɛ no, nsuo puee prɛko pɛ. Na ɛtene firii Edom, na ankyɛre biara na nsuo abu baabiara.
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.
Ɛberɛ a Moabfoɔ tee sɛ akodɔm mmiɛnsa reba wɔn so no, wɔn nso boaboaa mmarima a wɔbɛtumi ako, mmɔfra ne mpanin ano, de wɔn sisii wɔn ahyeɛ so.
22 But when they rose early the next morning, they saw that the water across from them appeared to be as red as blood.
Na adeɛ kyeeɛ a wɔsɔreeɛ no, na owia no abɔ wɔ nsuo no so, ama ani abere sɛ mogya.
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!”
Moabfoɔ no teaam sɛ, “Ɛyɛ mogya. Akodɔm mmiɛnsa no atwa wɔn ho ako, akunkum wɔn ho wɔn ho! Momma yɛnkɔfo asadeɛ no!”
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.
Ɛberɛ a wɔduruu Israelfoɔ nsraban mu no, Israel akodɔm gyee bum, kɔtoaa Moabfoɔ, ma wɔdwaneeɛ. Israel akodɔm no taa wɔn kɔduruu Moab asase so. Wɔgu Moabfoɔ no so nyinaa no, na wɔresɛe wɔn nneɛma.
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.
Wɔsɛee wɔn nkuro akɛseɛ, de aboɔ kataa wɔn nsase pa so, sisii asutire nyinaa, twitwaa nnua pa nyinaa. Kir-Haraset nko ara na ɛkaeɛ, na ɛno mpo, wɔto hyɛɛ so.
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.
Ɛberɛ a Moabhene hunuu sɛ ɔredi nkoguo no, ɔdii nʼakofoɔ ahanson anim, miaa wɔn ho, pɛɛ sɛ wɔpem fa atamfoɔ no nsraban a ɛbɛn Edomhene no mu, nanso wɔantumi.
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.
Enti, ɔfaa ne babarima panin a anka ɛsɛ sɛ ɔdi nʼadeɛ sɛ ɔhene no, de no bɔɔ ɔhyeɛ afɔdeɛ wɔ afasuo no ho. Yei enti, abufuo kɛseɛ baa Israel so, na wɔsane wɔn akyi kɔɔ wɔn ankasa asase so.