2 Reyes 3
1 El año 18 de Josafat, rey de Judá, Joram, hijo de Acab, fue rey de Israel en Samaria, y reinó 12 años.
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 Hizo lo malo ante Yavé, aunque no tanto como su padre y su madre, pues quitó la imagen de baal que erigió su padre.
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 Sin embargo, persistió en los pecados de Jeroboam, hijo de Nabat, con los cuales estimuló a pecar a Israel. No se apartó de ellos.
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 Entonces Mesa, rey de Moab, era criador de ovejas y tributaba al rey de Israel 100.000 corderos, y la lana de 100.000 carneros.
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 Pero cuando Acab murió, sucedió que el rey de Moab se rebeló contra el rey de Israel.
But after King Ahab died, Mesha rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 Aquel día el rey Joram salió de Samaria y pasó revista a todo Israel.
So King Joram left Samaria and gathered together all his soldiers.
7 También envió a decir a Josafat, rey de Judá: El rey de Moab se rebeló contra mí. ¿Vas conmigo a la guerra contra Moab? Y él respondió: Sí, voy. Yo soy como tú, mi pueblo como tu pueblo y mis caballos como los tuyos.
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 Y añadió: ¿Por cuál camino iremos? Y [Joram] respondió: Por el camino del desierto de 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 El rey de Israel, el rey de Judá, y el rey de Edom salieron. Rodearon y anduvieron por el desierto siete días, hasta que no hubo agua para el campamento ni para las bestias que los seguían.
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 Entonces el rey de Israel dijo: ¡Ay! ¡Yavé trajo a estos tres reyes para entregarlos en manos de 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 Pero Josafat preguntó: ¿No hay aquí un profeta de Yavé para que consultemos a Yavé por medio de él? Entonces uno de los esclavos del rey de Israel respondió: Aquí está Eliseo, hijo de Safat, quien vertía agua en las manos de Elías.
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 Y Josafat dijo: La Palabra de Yavé está con él. Y el rey de Israel, el rey de Edom y Josafat fueron a él.
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 Eliseo preguntó al rey de Israel: ¿Qué tengo yo contigo? Vete a los profetas de tu padre y tu madre. Pero el rey de Israel le respondió: No, porque Yavé reunió a estos tres reyes para entregarlos en manos de 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 Entonces Eliseo dijo: ¡Vive Yavé de las huestes, ante Quien estoy, que si no fuera por respeto a la presencia de Josafat, rey de Judá, no te haría caso ni te miraría!
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 Pero, tráiganme ahora un tañedor. Sucedió que mientras el tañedor tañía, la mano de Yavé vino sobre Eliseo
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 y dijo: Yavé dice: Hagan en este valle muchas zanjas,
He said, “Yahweh says that he will cause this dry stream-bed to be full of water.
17 porque Yavé dice: No verán viento ni lluvia, pero este valle se llenará de agua, y beberán ustedes, sus bestias y ganado.
The result will be that your soldiers and your animals that carry supplies and your livestock will have plenty of water to drink.
18 Si esto es poco ante Yavé, Él también entregará a los moabitas en manos de ustedes.
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 Destruirán toda ciudad fortificada y todo pueblo importante, talarán todo árbol bueno, cerrarán toda fuente de agua y arruinarán con piedras toda tierra fértil.
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 Sucedió que a la hora de ofrecer el sacrificio de la mañana, ciertamente llegó agua por el camino de Edom, y la tierra se llenó de agua.
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 Cuando todos los de Moab oyeron que los reyes iban a luchar contra ellos, convocaron a todos, desde los que apenas se ataban las armas en adelante, y tomaron posición en la frontera.
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 Cuando se levantaron por la mañana, el sol brillaba sobre las aguas. Los de Moab vieron desde lejos las aguas rojas como sangre
But when they rose early the next morning, they saw that the water across from them appeared to be as red as blood.
23 y dijeron: ¡Es sangre! Ciertamente los reyes se atacaron el uno al otro y se mataron unos con otros. Ahora pues, Moab: ¡Al botín!
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 Pero cuando llegaron al campamento de Israel, se levantaron los israelitas y atacaron a los de Moab, quienes huyeron de ellos. Pero los persiguieron y mataron a los moabitas.
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 Asolaron las ciudades. En todas las tierras fértiles cada uno echó su piedra y la llenaron. Cerraron toda fuente de agua. Talaron todos los árboles buenos. Incluso a Kir-herés solo le quedaron piedras, después que los honderos la cercaron y la destruyeron.
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 Cuando el rey de Moab vio que la batalla arreciaba contra él, tomó consigo 700 hombres que sacaban espada, para atacar al rey de Edom, pero no pudieron.
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 Entonces tomó a su hijo primogénito que iba a reinar en su lugar y lo ofreció en holocausto sobre el muro. Hubo una gran ira contra Israel. Ellos salieron de allí y volvieron a su tierra.
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.
