Ii Regum 3
1 Ioram vero filius Ahab regnavit super Israhel in Samaria anno octavodecimo Iosaphat regis Iudae 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 Hieroboam filii Nabath qui peccare fecit Israhel adhesit 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 Israhel centum milia agnorum et centum milia 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 Ahab praevaricatus est foedus quod habebat cum rege Israhel
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 Israhel
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 Moab ad proelium qui respondit ascendam qui meus est tuus est populus meus populus tuus 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 Idumeae
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 Israhel et rex Iuda et rex Edom et circumierunt per viam septem dierum nec erat aqua exercitui et iumentis quae 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 Israhel eheu eheu eheu congregavit nos Dominus tres reges ut traderet in manu 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 estne hic propheta Domini ut deprecemur Dominum per eum et respondit unus de servis regis Israhel est hic Heliseus filius Saphat qui fundebat aquam super manus Heliae
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 Israhel et Iosaphat 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 Heliseus ad regem Israhel quid mihi et tibi est vade ad prophetas patris tui et matris tuae et ait illi rex Israhel quare congregavit Dominus tres reges hos ut traderet eos in manu 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 dixit autem Heliseus vivit Dominus exercituum in cuius conspectu sto quod si non vultum Iosaphat regis Iudae erubescerem ne adtendissem 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 psalten 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 haec 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 haec enim dicit Dominus non videbitis ventum neque pluviam et alveus iste replebitur aquis et bibetis vos et familiae vestrae 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 hoc est in conspectu Domini insuper tradet etiam Moab in manu vestra
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 aquae 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 Moabitae 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 Moabitae contra 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 est gladii pugnaverunt reges contra se et caesi sunt mutuo nunc perge ad praedam 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 Israhel porro consurgens Israhel 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 fundibalariis 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 praevaluisse scilicet hostes tulit secum septingentos viros educentes gladium ut inrumperet 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 Israhel 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.
