2 Ahemfo 3
1 Ahab babarima Yoram na odii hene wɔ Israel bere a na Yudahene Yehosafat adi ade mfe dunwɔtwe wɔ Yuda no. Odii ade wɔ Samaria mfe dumien.
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 Ɔyɛɛ Awurade ani so bɔne. Nanso na nʼamumɔyɛ no nte sɛ nʼagya ne ne na de no. Ɔsɛee Baal adum kronkron a nʼagya sii no.
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 Nanso ɔtoaa ahonisom so, sɛnea Nebat babarima Yeroboam dii Israelfo anim ma wɔyɛe no.
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 Na Moabhene Mesa ne ne nkurɔfo yɛn nguan. Na wotua sonkahiri a ɛyɛ nguamma mpem ɔha ne adwennini mpem ɔha ho nwi ma Israelhene afe biara.
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 Nanso Ahab wu akyi no, Moabhene sɔre tiaa Israelhene.
But after King Ahab died, Mesha rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 Enti ɔhene Yoram fii Samaria boaboaa Israel asraafo ano.
So King Joram left Samaria and gathered together all his soldiers.
7 Ɔde nkra kɔmaa Yudahene Yehosafat se, “Moabhene asɔre atia me. Wobɛboa me na me ne no ako ana?” Na Yehosafat buae se, “Me ne wo bɛkɔ. Wo ne me yɛ anuanom, me nkurɔfo yɛ wo nkurɔfo, mʼapɔnkɔ yɛ wʼapɔnkɔ.”
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 Na Yehosafat bisae se, “Ɔkwan bɛn na yɛbɛfa so akɔ?” Yoram buae se, “Yɛbɛtoa wɔn afi Edom sare so.”
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 Edomhene ne nʼakofo kɔkaa wɔn ho. Na asraafo dɔm abiɛsa no bɔɔ nsra twaa wɔn ho besii wɔn anan mu saa nnanson no, na wɔne wɔn mmoa nnya nsu nnom.
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 Israelhene teɛɛ mu bisae se, “Yɛnyɛ yɛn ho dɛn? Awurade de yɛn baasa aba ha sɛ Moabhene nni yɛn so ana?”
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 Nanso Yudahene Yehosafat bisae se, “Enti Awurade diyifo biara nka yɛn ho wɔ ha ana? Sɛ wɔn mu bi wɔ ha a, yebetumi abisa Awurade nea yɛnyɛ.” Ɔhene Yoram mpanyimfo no mu baako kae se, “Safat babarima Elisa wɔ ha. Na ɔyɛ Elia boafo.”
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 Enti Yehosafat kae se, “Ɛno de, Awurade betumi akasa afa no so.” Na Israelhene, Yudahene ne Edomhene kɔɔ Elisa nkyɛn abisa.
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 Elisa ka kyerɛɛ Israelhene se, “Wo ho nhia me. Kɔ wʼagya ne wo na adiyifo abosonsomfo no nkyɛn.” Nanso ɔhene Yoram kae se, “Dabi! Efisɛ ɛyɛ Awurade na ɔfrɛɛ yɛn ahemfo baasa yi baa ha sɛ ɔrebeyi yɛn ahyɛ Moabhene nsa!”
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 Na Elisa buae se, “Mmere dodow a Awurade Tumfo a mesom no no te ase yi, sɛ ɛnyɛ Yudahene Yehosafat a mibu no a, anka merenhaw me ho wɔ wo ho.
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 Afei, ma obi a obetumi abɔ sanku mmra.” Bere a wɔrebɔ sanku no, Awurade tumi baa Elisa so,
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 ma ɔkae se, “Sɛnea Awurade se ni: Saa obon a emu nsu ayow yi, wɔde nsu bɛhyɛ no ma.
He said, “Yahweh says that he will cause this dry stream-bed to be full of water.
17 Worenhu mframa anaa osu sɛnea Awurade ka no, nanso saa obon yi, wɔbɛhyɛ no nsu ma. Mubenya bi ama mo ho, mo anantwi ne mo mmoa a aka no.
The result will be that your soldiers and your animals that carry supplies and your livestock will have plenty of water to drink.
18 Na eyi yɛ ade a ɛyɛ mmerɛw ma Awurade. Ɔbɛma moadi Moab asraafo so nkonim.
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 Mubedi wɔn nkuropɔn papa so nkonim, mpo, nkuropɔn a wɔabɔ ho ban no. Mubetwitwa wɔn nnua nyinaa agu. Mubesisiw wɔn asu aniwa, na mode abo asɛe wɔn nsase pa.”
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 Na ade kyee a eduu bere a wɔbɔ anɔpa afɔre no, nsu puee prɛko pɛ. Na ɛsen fii Edom, na ankyɛ biara na nsu abu so wɔ baabiara.
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 Bere a Moabfo tee sɛ asraafo dɔm abiɛsa reba wɔn so no, wɔn nso boaboaa mmarima a wobetumi ako, mmofra ne mpanyin ano, de wɔn sisii wɔn ahye so.
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 Na ade kyee a wɔsɔree no, na owia no abɔ wɔ asu no so, ama ani abere sɛ mogya.
But when they rose early the next morning, they saw that the water across from them appeared to be as red as blood.
23 Moabfo no teɛɛ mu se, “Ɛyɛ mogya. Sesɛɛ asraafo dɔm abiɛsa no atwa wɔn ho ako, akunkum wɔn ho wɔn ho! Momma yɛnkɔfow asade no!”
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 Bere a woduu Israelfo nsraban mu no, Israel asraafo gyee bum, kɔtoaa Moabfo, ma woguanee. Israel asraafo no taa wɔn koduu Moab asase so. Wɔretaa Moabfo no nyinaa no, na wɔresɛe wɔn nneɛma.
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 Wɔsɛee wɔn nkurow akɛse, de abo kataa wɔn nsase pa so, sisiw asuti nyinaa, twitwaa nnua pa nyinaa. Kir-Haraset nko ara na ɛkae, na ɛno mpo, wɔtow hyɛɛ so.
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 Bere a Moabhene huu sɛ ɔredi nkogu no, odii nʼakofo ahanson anim, yeree wɔn ho, pɛɛ sɛ wɔpem fa atamfo no nsraban a ɛbɛn Edomhene no mu, nanso wɔantumi.
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 Enti ɔfaa ne babarima panyin a anka ɛsɛ sɛ odi nʼade sɛ ɔhene no, de no bɔɔ ɔhyew afɔre wɔ afasu no ho. Abufuw kɛse baa Israel so, na wɔsan wɔn akyi kɔɔ wɔn ankasa asase so.
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.
