2 Kongebok 3
1 Joram, Akabs sønn, blev konge over Israel i Samaria i Judas konge Josafats attende år, og han regjerte tolv år.
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 Han gjorde hvad ondt var i Herrens øine, dog ikke som sin far og mor; for han tok bort den Ba'al-støtte som hans far hadde latt gjøre.
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 Dog blev han hengende ved Jeroboams, Nebats sønns synder, de synder som Jeroboam hadde fått Israel til å gjøre; dem vek han ikke fra.
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 Mesa, kongen i Moab, hadde meget fe, og han betalte i skatt til Israels konge hundre tusen lam og ull av hundre tusen værer.
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 Men da Akab var død, falt kongen i Moab fra Israels konge.
But after King Ahab died, Mesha rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 Da drog kong Joram ut fra Samaria og mønstret hele Israel.
So King Joram left Samaria and gathered together all his soldiers.
7 Så sendte han bud til Judas konge Josafat og lot si: Moabs konge er falt fra mig; vil du dra med mig og stride mot Moab? Han svarte: Ja, jeg vil dra med; som du, så jeg, som ditt folk, så mitt folk, som dine hester, så mine hester.
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 Og han spurte: Hvilken vei skal vi dra dit op? Han svarte: Gjennem Edoms ørken.
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 Så drog Israels konge og Judas konge og Edoms konge avsted, og da de hadde faret syv dagsreiser omkring, fantes det ikke vann, hverken for hæren eller for buskapen som de hadde med sig.
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 Da sa Israels konge: Akk, at Herren har kalt disse tre konger hit for å gi dem i Moabs hånd!
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 Men Josafat sa: Er det ikke nogen av Herrens profeter her, så vi kunde spørre Herren til råds gjennem ham? Da svarte en av Israels konges tjenere: Elisa, Safats sønn, er her, han som helte vann over Elias' hender.
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 Så drog Israels konge og Josafat og Edoms konge ned til ham.
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 Men Elisa sa til Israels konge: Hvad har jeg med dig å gjøre? Gå du til din fars profeter og til din mors profeter! Israels konge svarte ham: Tal ikke så! For Herren har kalt disse tre konger hit for å gi dem i Moabs hånd.
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 Da sa Elisa: Så sant Herren, hærskarenes Gud, lever, han hvis tjener jeg er: Var det ikke for Judas konge Josafats skyld, så vilde jeg ikke ense dig eller se på dig.
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 Men hent nu en harpespiller til mig! Da så harpespilleren spilte på sin harpe, kom Herrens Ånd over ham.
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 Og han sa: Så sier Herren: Gjør grøft ved grøft i dalen her!
He said, “Yahweh says that he will cause this dry stream-bed to be full of water.
17 For sa sier Herren: I skal ikke se vind og ikke se regn, men allikevel skal denne dal fylles med vann, så I får drikke, både I selv og eders buskap og eders kløvdyr.
The result will be that your soldiers and your animals that carry supplies and your livestock will have plenty of water to drink.
18 Men dette er ikke nok i Herrens øine; han vil også gi Moab i eders hånd.
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 Og I skal innta hver fast by og hver storby, og hvert godt tre skal I felle, og alle vannkilder skal I tilstoppe, og hvert godt stykke land skal I ødelegge med sten.
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 Og morgenen efter, ved den tid matofferet blir båret frem, da kom det vann fra Edoms-kanten, og landet fyltes med vann.
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 Da moabittene fikk høre at kongene hadde draget op for å stride mot dem, blev de alle kalt sammen, så mange som på nogen måte kunde bære våben, og de stilte sig op ved grensen.
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 Men tidlig om morgenen, da solen gikk op over vannet, så det ut for moabittene som om vannet foran dem var rødt som blod.
But when they rose early the next morning, they saw that the water across from them appeared to be as red as blood.
23 Og de sa: Det er blod; kongene har gjort ende på hverandre og slått hverandre ihjel. Nu til plyndring, moabitter!
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 Men da de kom til Israels leir, reiste lsraelittene sig og slo moabittene, som flyktet for dem, og de trengte inn i landet og slo atter moabittene.
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 De rev ned byene, og på hvert godt stykke land kastet de hver sin sten og fylte det op, og hver vannkilde tilstoppet de, og hvert godt tre felte de, så det ikke blev levnet annet enn stenene i Kir-Hareset; og denne by omringet slyngekasterne og skjøt på den.
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 Da Moabs konge så at striden blev ham for hård, tok han med sig syv hundre våbenføre menn og vilde bryte igjennem på den kant hvor Edoms konge stod; men de kunde ikke.
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 Da tok han sin førstefødte sønn, som skulde bli konge i hans sted, og ofret ham som brennoffer på muren. Da kom det en stor vrede over Israel, og de brøt op derfra og vendte tilbake til sitt 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.
