Ii Regum 3
1 Ioram vero filius Achab regnavit super Israel in Samaria anno decimo octavo Iosaphat regis Iudæ. Regnavitque duodecim annis.
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 Et fecit malum coram Domino, sed non sicut pater suus et mater: tulit enim statuas Baal, quas fecerat pater eius.
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 Verumtamen in peccatis Ieroboam filii Nabat, qui peccare fecit Israel, adhæsit, nec recessit ab eis.
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 Porro Mesa rex Moab, nutriebat pecora multa, et solvebat regi Israel centum millia agnorum, et centum millia arietum cum velleribus suis.
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 Cumque mortuus fuisset Achab, prævaricatus est fœdus, quod habebat cum rege Israel.
But after King Ahab died, Mesha rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 Egressus est igitur rex Ioram in die illa de Samaria, et recensuit universum Israel.
So King Joram left Samaria and gathered together all his soldiers.
7 Misitque ad Iosaphat regem Iuda, dicens: Rex Moab recessit a me, veni mecum contra eum ad prælium. Qui respondit: Ascendam: qui meus est, tuus est: populus meus, populus tuus: et equi mei, equi tui.
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 Dixitque: Per quam viam ascendemus? At ille respondit: Per desertum Idumææ.
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 Perrexerunt igitur rex Israel, et rex Iuda, et rex Edom, et circuierunt per viam septem dierum, nec erat aqua exercitui, et iumentis, quæ sequebantur eos.
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 Dixitque rex Israel: Heu heu heu, congregavit nos Dominus tres reges, ut traderet in manus 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 Et ait Iosaphat: Est ne hic propheta Domini, ut deprecemur Dominum per eum? Et respondit unus de servis regis Israel: Est hic Eliseus filius Saphat, qui fundebat aquam super manus Eliæ.
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 Et ait Iosaphat: Est apud eum sermo Domini. Descenditque ad eum rex Israel, et Iosaphat rex Iuda, et rex 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 Dixit autem Eliseus ad regem Israel: Quid mihi et tibi est? vade ad prophetas patris tui, et matris tuæ. Et ait illi rex Israel: Quare congregavit Dominus tres reges hos, ut traderet eos in manus 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 Dixitque ad eum Eliseus: Vivit Dominus exercituum, in cuius conspectu sto, quod si non vultum Iosaphat regis Iudæ erubescerem, non attendissem quidem te, nec respexissem.
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 Nunc autem adducite mihi psaltem. Cumque caneret psaltes, facta est super eum manus Domini, et ait:
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 Hæc dicit Dominus: Facite alveum torrentis huius fossas, et fossas.
He said, “Yahweh says that he will cause this dry stream-bed to be full of water.
17 Hæc enim dicit Dominus: Non videbitis ventum, neque pluviam: et alveus iste replebitur aquis, et bibetis vos, et familiæ vestræ, et iumenta vestra.
The result will be that your soldiers and your animals that carry supplies and your livestock will have plenty of water to drink.
18 Parumque est hoc in conspectu Domini: insuper tradet etiam Moab in manus vestras.
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 Et percutietis omnem civitatem munitam, et omnem urbem electam, et universum lignum fructiferum succidetis, cunctosque fontes aquarum obturabitis, et omnem agrum egregium operietis lapidibus.
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 Factum est igitur mane, quando sacrificium offerri solet, et ecce, aquæ veniebant per viam Edom, et repleta est terra aquis.
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 Universi autem Moabitæ audientes quod ascendissent reges ut pugnarent adversum eos, convocaverunt omnes qui accincti erant balteo desuper, et steterunt in terminis.
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 Primoque mane surgentes, et orto iam sole ex adverso aquarum, viderunt Moabitæ econtra aquas rubras quasi sanguinem,
But when they rose early the next morning, they saw that the water across from them appeared to be as red as blood.
23 dixeruntque: Sanguis gladii est: pugnaverunt reges contra se, et cæsi sunt mutuo: nunc perge ad prædam 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 Perrexeruntque in castra Israel: porro consurgens Israel, percussit Moab: at illi fugerunt coram eis. Venerunt igitur qui vicerant, et percusserunt 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 et civitates destruxerunt: et omnem agrum optimum, mittentes singuli lapides, repleverunt: et universos fontes aquarum obturaverunt: et omnia ligna fructifera succiderunt, ita ut muri tantum fictiles remanerent: et circumdata est civitas a fundibulariis, et magna ex parte percussa.
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 Quod cum vidisset rex Moab, prævaluisse scilicet hostes, tulit secum septingentos viros educentes gladium, ut irrumperent ad regem Edom: et non potuerunt.
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 Arripiensque filium suum primogenitum, qui regnaturus erat pro eo, obtulit holocaustum super murum: et facta est indignatio magna in Israel, statimque recesserunt ab eo, et reversi sunt in terram suam.
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.
