2 Tuʻi 3

1 Ko eni, naʻe kamata pule ki ʻIsileli ʻa Siholami ko e foha ʻo ʻEhapi, ʻi Samēlia, ʻi hono hongofulu ma valu ʻoe taʻu ʻo Sihosafate ko e tuʻi ʻo Siuta, pea naʻe pule ia ʻi he taʻu ʻe hongofulu ma ua.

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 Pea naʻe fai kovi ʻe ia ʻi he ʻao ʻo Sihova; ka naʻe ʻikai hangē ko ʻene tamai, pe hangē ko ʻene faʻē: he naʻa ne liʻaki ʻae meʻa fakatātā kia Peali ʻaia naʻe ngaohi ʻe heʻene tamai.

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 Ka neongo ia naʻa ne pikitai ki he ngaahi angahala ʻa Selopoami ko e foha ʻo Nipati, ʻaia naʻe fakaangahalaʻi ʻa ʻIsileli; naʻe ʻikai tafoki ia mei ai.

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 Pea ko Mesa ko e tuʻi ʻo Moape, ko e ʻeiki ia naʻe maʻu fanga sipi, pea naʻa ne tuku ki he tuʻi ʻo ʻIsileli ha fanga lami ʻe taha kilu, mo e fanga sipitangata ʻe taha kilu, pea mo honau fulufulu.

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 Ka naʻe hoko ʻo pehē, ʻi heʻene pekia ʻa ʻEhapi, naʻe angatuʻu ʻae tuʻi ʻo Moape ki he tuʻi ʻo ʻIsileli.

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

6 Pea ʻi he kuonga ko ia naʻe ʻalu atu mei Samēlia ʻae tuʻi ko Siholami, mo ne lau hake ʻa ʻIsileli kātoa.

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

7 Pea naʻa ne ʻalu mo ne fekau kia Sihosafate, ko e tuʻi ʻo Siuta, ʻo pehē, “Kuo angatuʻu kiate au ʻae tuʻi ʻo Moape: te ke fie ʻalu mo au ki Moape ke fai ʻae tau pe ʻikai? Pea naʻe pehē mai ʻe ia, Te u ʻalu hake pe; ʻoka kou hangē ko koe, ʻoku tatau ʻa hoku kakai mo ho kakai, pea tatau ʻa ʻeku fanga hoosi mo hoʻo fanga hoosi.”

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 Pea naʻe pehē ʻe ia, “Te ta ʻalu hake ʻi he hala fē? Pea naʻe pehēange ʻe ia, ʻI he hala ʻoku ʻalu atu ʻi he toafa ʻo ʻItomi.”

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 Ko ia naʻe ʻalu ai ʻae tuʻi ʻo ʻIsileli, mo e tuʻi ʻo Siuta pea mo e tuʻi ʻo ʻItomi: pea naʻa nau hala fakatakamilo hake ʻo fononga ʻi he ʻaho ʻe fitu: pea naʻe ʻikai ha vai mā ʻae kautau, pe ko e fanga manu naʻe muimui ʻiate kinautolu.

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 Pea naʻe pehē ʻe he tuʻi ʻo ʻIsileli, “ʻOiauē! ʻI he ui mai ʻe Sihova ke fakataha ʻae tuʻi ʻe toko tolu ni, ke tukuange ʻakinautolu ki he nima ʻo Moape!”

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 Ka naʻe pehē ʻe Sihosafate, “ʻOku ʻikai ʻi heni ha palōfita ʻa Sihova, koeʻuhi ke tau fehuʻi ʻiate ia kia Sihova?” Pea naʻe tali ʻe ha tokotaha ʻi he kau tamaioʻeiki ʻae tuʻi ʻo ʻIsileli, ʻo, pehē, “ʻOku ʻi heni ʻa ʻIlaisa ko e foha ʻo Safati, ʻaia naʻe lingi vai ki he nima ʻo ʻIlaisiā.”

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 Pea naʻe pehē ʻe Sihosafate, “ʻOku ʻiate ia ʻae folofola ʻa Sihova.” Ko ia naʻe ʻalu hifo ai kiate ia ʻae tuʻi ʻo ʻIsileli, mo Sihosafate, pea mo e tuʻi ʻo ʻItomi.

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 Pea naʻe pehē ʻe ʻIlaisa ki he tuʻi ʻo ʻIsileli, “Ko e hā au kiate koe? Ke ke ʻalu ki he kau palōfita ʻo hoʻo tamai, pea ki he kau palōfita ʻo hoʻo faʻē.” Pea naʻe pehē kiate ia ʻe he tuʻi ʻo ʻIsileli, “ʻE ʻikai: he kuo ui ʻa Sihova ke fakataha mai ʻae ngaahi tuʻi ni ʻe toko tolu, koeʻuhi ke tuku ʻakinautolu ki he nima ʻo Moape.”

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 Pea naʻe pehē ʻe ʻIlaisa, “ʻOku moʻui ʻa Sihova ʻoe ngaahi tokolahi, ʻaia ʻoku ou tuʻu ʻi hono ʻao, pea ko e moʻoni, ka ne ʻoua ʻa ʻeku tokanga ki he ʻao ʻo Sihosafate ko e tuʻi ʻo Siuta, pehē, ʻe ʻikai te u hanga atu kiate koe, pe mamata kiate koe.

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 Ka ko eni, ʻomi kiate au ha tangata ʻoku tā ha meʻa faiva.” Pea vakai ʻi heʻene tā ʻae hiva ʻe he tangata tā meʻa faiva, naʻe hoko mai ʻae nima ʻo Sihova kiate ia.

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 Pea naʻa ne pehē, “ʻOku pehē ʻe Sihova, Mou fakafonu ʻae teleʻa ni ʻi he ngaahi luo.

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

17 He ʻoku pehē ʻe Sihova, ʻE ʻikai te mou sio ki ha matangi, pe mamata ki ha ʻuha; ka neongo ia, ʻe pito ʻae teleʻa ni ʻi he vai, koeʻuhi ke mou inu, ʻio ʻakimoutolu, pea mo hoʻomou fanga pulu, pea mo hoʻomou fanga manu.

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

18 Pea ko e meʻa maʻamaʻa eni ʻi he ʻao ʻo Sihova: te ne tuku mai foki ʻae kakai Moape ki homou nima.

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 Pea te mou teʻia ʻae kolo kotoa pē kuo tanu puke, mo e kolo lelei kotoa pē, pea te mou tā hifo ʻae ʻakau lelei kotoa pē, mo punusi ʻae vaikeli kotoa pē, mo maumau ʻaki ʻae maka ʻae potu fonua lelei kotoa pē.”

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 Pea naʻe hoko ʻo pehē ʻi heʻene pongipongi, lolotonga ʻae ʻohake ʻae feilaulau meʻakai, vakai, naʻe tafe mai ʻae vai mei he hala ki ʻItomi, pea naʻe fonu ʻae fonua ʻi he vai.

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 Pea ʻi he fanongo ʻe he kakai Moape kotoa pē, ki he ʻalu hake ʻae ngaahi tuʻi ke tauʻi ʻakinautolu, naʻa nau tānaki mai ʻakinautolu kotoa pē naʻe faʻa fua ʻae mahafutau, ʻo fai hake, ʻonau tutuʻu ʻi he ngataʻanga [fonua].

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 Pea naʻa nau tuʻu hengihengi hake ʻi he pongipongi, pea naʻe ulo ʻae laʻā ki he funga vai, pea naʻe mamata ʻe he kakai Moape ki he vai mei he potu ʻe taha, ʻoku kulokula ʻae vai ʻo hangē ko e toto:

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

23 Pea naʻa nau pehē, “Ko e toto eni tā ko e moʻoni kuo fakaʻauha ʻae ngaahi tuʻi, pea kuo nau fetāmateʻaki ʻakinautolu: ko ia foki, ʻakimoutolu Moape, ke tau ʻalu atu ki he vete.”

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 Pea ʻi heʻenau hoko mai ki he ʻapitanga tau ʻo ʻIsileli, naʻe tuʻu hake ʻae kakai ʻIsileli ʻonau teʻia ʻae kau Moape, pea naʻa nau hola mei honau ʻao: ka naʻa nau muimui atu ʻi he teʻia ʻae kakai Moape, ʻi honau fonua ʻonautolu.

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 Pea naʻa nau fakalala ʻae ngaahi kolo, pea ʻilonga ʻae konga fonua kotoa pē naʻe lelei, naʻe lī ki ai ʻe he tangata taki taha ʻa ʻene maka, ke fonu ai ia; pea naʻa nau punusi ʻae ngaahi vaikeli kotoa pē, mo nau tā hifo ʻae ngaahi ʻakau lelei kotoa pē: ko Kili-Halaseti pe naʻa nau tuku ai hono ngaahi maka ʻo ia; ka naʻe nofo tākai ki ai ʻae kau tangata makatā, mo nau kapasia ia.

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 Pea ʻi heʻene mamata ʻe he tuʻi ʻo Moape, kuo mālohi fau ʻae tau kiate ia, naʻa ne ʻave mo ia ʻae kau tangata ʻe toko fitungeau naʻe toʻo heletā, ke nau ʻoho atu ke lava ki he tuʻi ʻo ʻItomi: ka naʻe ʻikai te nau mafai.

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 Pea naʻa ne toki toʻo ʻa hono ʻuluaki foha ʻaia naʻe tonu ke hoko mo ia ki he pule, mo ne feilaulau ʻaki ia ko e feilaulau tutu ʻi he funga ʻā. Pea naʻe lahi ʻaupito ʻae ʻita ki ʻIsileli: pea naʻa nau liʻaki ia mo nau foki atu ki honau fonua.

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.