2 Kings 3

1 And Jehoram son of Ahab hath reigned over Israel, in Samaria, in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigneth twelve years,

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.

2 and doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, only not like his father, and like his mother, and he turneth aside the standing-pillar of Baal that his father made;

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.

3 only to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat that he caused Israel to sin he hath cleaved, he hath not turned aside from it.

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.

4 And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master, and he rendered to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, [with] wool,

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].

5 and it cometh to pass at the death of Ahab, that the king of Moab transgresseth against the king of Israel.

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

6 And king Jehoram goeth out in that day from Samaria, and inspecteth all Israel,

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

7 and goeth and sendeth unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, 'The king of Moab hath transgressed against me; dost thou go with me unto Moab for battle?' and he saith, 'I go up, as I, so thou; as my people, so thy people; as my horses, so thy horses.

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.”

8 And he saith, 'Where [is] this — the way we go up?' and he saith, 'The way of the wilderness of Edom.'

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.”

9 And the king of Israel goeth, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom, and they turn round the way seven days, and there hath been no water for the camp, and for the cattle that [are] at their feet,

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.

10 and the king of Israel saith, 'Alas, for Jehovah hath called for these three kings, to give them into the hand of Moab.'

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!”

11 And Jehoshaphat saith, 'Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah, and we seek Jehovah by him?' And one of the servants of the king of Israel answereth and saith, 'Here [is] Elisha son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.'

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]

12 And Jehoshaphat saith, 'The word of Jehovah is with him;' and go down unto him do the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom.

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.

13 And Elisha saith unto the king of Israel, 'What — to me and to thee? go unto the prophets of thy father, and unto the prophets of thy mother;' and the king of Israel saith to him, 'Nay, for Jehovah hath called for these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.'

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.”

14 And Elisha saith, 'Jehovah of Hosts liveth, before whom I have stood; for unless the face of Jehoshaphat king of Judah I am lifting up, I do not look unto thee, nor see thee;

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.

15 and now, bring to me a minstrel; and it hath been, at the playing of the minstrel, that the hand of Jehovah is on him,

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.

16 and he saith, 'Thus said Jehovah, Make this valley ditches — ditches;

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

17 for thus said Jehovah, Ye do not see wind, nor do ye see rain, and that valley is full of water, and ye have drunk — ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.

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

18 'And this hath been light in the eyes of Jehovah, and he hath given Moab into your hand,

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.

19 and ye have smitten every fenced city, and every choice city, and every good tree ye cause to fall, and all fountains of waters ye stop, and every good portion ye mar with stones.'

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.”

20 And it cometh to pass in the morning, at the ascending of the [morning] -present, that lo, waters are coming in from the way of Edom, and the land is filled with the waters,

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.

21 and all Moab have heard that the kings have come up to fight against them, and they are called together, from every one girding on a girdle and upward, and they stand by the border.

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.

22 And they rise early in the morning, and the sun hath shone on the waters, and the Moabites see, from over-against, the waters red as blood,

But when they rose early the next morning, they saw that the water across from them appeared to be as red as blood.

23 and say, 'Blood this [is]; the kings have been surely destroyed, and they smite each his neighbour; and now for spoil, Moab!'

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!”

24 And they come in unto the camp of Israel, and the Israelites rise, and smite the Moabites, and they flee from their face; and they enter into Moab, so as to smite Moab,

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.

25 and the cities they break down, and [on] every good portion they cast each his stone, and have filled it, and every fountain of water they stop, and every good tree they cause to fall — till one had left its stones in Kir-Haraseth, and the slingers go round and smite it.

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.

26 And the king of Moab seeth that the battle has been too strong for him, and he taketh with him seven hundred men, drawing sword, to cleave through unto the king of Edom, and they have not been able,

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.

27 and he taketh his son, the first-born who reigneth in his stead, and causeth him to ascend — a burnt-offering on the wall, and there is great wrath against Israel, and they journey from off him, and turn back to the land.

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.