2 Kings 3

1 Truly, Joram, the son of Ahab, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. And he reigned for twelve years.

Now in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Joram son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria; he reigned twelve years.

2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as his father and mother did. For he took away the statues of Baal, which his father had made.

He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, but not like his father and his mother; for he removed the sacred stone pillar of Baal that his father had made.

3 Yet truly, he did adhere to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin; neither did he withdraw from these.

Nevertheless he held on to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin; he did not turn away from them.

4 Now Mesha, the king of Moab, raised many sheep. And he repaid to the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs, and one hundred thousand rams, with their fleece.

Now Mesha king of Moab bred sheep. He had to give to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams.

5 And when Ahab had died, he transgressed the pact that he had with the king of Israel.

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

6 Therefore, king Joram departed on that day from Samaria, and he took a count of all of Israel.

So King Joram left Samaria at that time to mobilize all Israel for war.

7 And he sent to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, saying: “The king of Moab has withdrawn from me. Come to battle with me against him.” And he responded: “I will go up. What is mine, is yours. My people are your people. And my horses are your horses.”

He sent a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me against Moab to battle?” Jehoshaphat replied, “I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

8 And he said, “Along which way shall we ascend?” So he responded, “Along the desert of Idumea.”

Then he said, “By which way should we attack?” Jehoshaphat answered, “By way of the wilderness of Edom.”

9 Therefore, the king of Israel, and the king of Judah, and the king of Idumea, traveled, and they went by a circuitous path for seven days. But there was no water for the army or for the beasts of burden which were following them.

So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They wandered around for seven days, and then there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them.

10 And the king of Israel said: “Alas, alas, alas! The Lord has gathered we three kings, so that he might deliver us into the hands of Moab.”

So the king of Israel said, “What is this? Has Yahweh called three kings to give them into the hand of Moab?”

11 And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here, so that we may appeal to the Lord through him?” And one of the servants of the king of Israel responded, “Elisha, the son of Shaphat, is here, who poured water upon the hands of Elijah.”

But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here a prophet of Yahweh, that we may consult Yahweh by him?” One of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.”

12 And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” And so, the king of Israel, with Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and with the king of Idumea, descended to him.

Jehoshaphat said, “The word of Yahweh is with him.” So the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to him.

13 Then Elisha said to the king of Israel: “What is there between you and me? Go to the prophets of your father and your mother.” And the king of Israel said to him, “Why has the Lord gathered these three kings, so that he might deliver them into the hands of Moab?”

Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and mother.” So the king of Israel said to him, “No, because Yahweh has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab.”

14 And Elisha said to him: “As the Lord of hosts lives, in whose sight I stand, if I was not humbled by the face of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, certainly I would neither have listened to you, nor have looked upon you.

Elisha replied, “As Yahweh of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not for the fact that I honor the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not pay any attention to you, or even look at you.

15 But now, bring a musician to me.” And while the musician was playing, the hand of the Lord fell upon him, and he said:

But now bring me a musician.” Then it came to pass when the harpist played, the hand of Yahweh came upon Elisha.

16 “Thus says the Lord: Make, in the channel of this torrent, pit after pit.

He said, “Yahweh says this, 'Make this dry river valley full of trenches.'

17 For thus says the Lord: You shall not see wind or rain. And yet this channel shall be filled with water. And you shall drink, you and your families, and your beasts of burden.

For Yahweh says this, 'You will not see wind, neither will you see rain, but this river valley will be filled with water, and you will drink, you and your livestock and all your animals.'

18 And this is small in the sight of the Lord. So, in addition, he will also deliver Moab into your hands.

This is an easy thing in the sight of Yahweh. He will also give you victory over the Moabites.

19 And you shall strike every fortified town and every elect city. And you shall cut down every fruitful tree. And you shall obstruct all the sources of water. And you shall cover every excellent field with stones.”

You will attack every fortified city and every good city, cut down every good tree, stop up all springs of water, and ruin every good piece of land with rocks.”

20 Then it happened that, in the morning, when the sacrifices were usually to be offered, behold, water was arriving along the way of Idumea, and the land was filled with water.

So in the morning about the time of offering the sacrifice, there came water from the direction of Edom; the country was filled with water.

21 Then all the Moabites, hearing that the kings had ascended so that they might fight against them, gathered all who had been girded with a belt around them, and they stood at the borders.

Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all who were able to put on armor, and they stood at the border.

22 And rising up in early morning, and when the sun was now rising before the waters, the Moabites saw the waters opposite them, which were red like blood.

They awakened early in the morning and the sun reflected on the water. When the Moabites saw the water opposite them, it looked as red as blood.

23 And they said: “It is the blood of the sword! The kings have fought among themselves, and they have slain one another. Go now, Moab, to the spoils!”

They exclaimed, “This is blood! The kings have certainly been destroyed, and they have killed each other! So now, Moab, let us go plunder them!”

24 And they went into the camp of Israel. But Israel, rising up, struck Moab, and they fled before them. And since they had prevailed, they went and struck down Moab.

When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites surprised them and attacked the Moabites, who fled before them. The army of Israel drove the Moabites across the land, killing them.

25 And they destroyed the cities. And they filled up every excellent field, each one casting stones. And they obstructed all the sources of water. And they cut down all the fruitful trees, to such an extent that only brick walls remained. And the city was encircled by the slingers of stones. And a great part of it was struck down.

They destroyed the cities, and on every good piece of land every man threw a rock until it was covered up. They stopped up every spring of water and chopped down all the good trees. Only Kir Hareseth was left with its rocks in place. But the soldiers armed with slings surrounded and attacked it.

26 And when the king of Moab had seen this, specifically, that the enemies had prevailed, he took with him seven hundred men who draw the sword, so that he might break through to the king of Idumea. But they were unable.

When King Mesha of Moab saw that the battle was lost, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they failed.

27 And taking his firstborn son, who would have reigned in his place, he offered him as a holocaust upon the wall. And there was great indignation in Israel. And they promptly withdrew from him, and they turned back to their own land.

Then he took his oldest son, who should have reigned after him, and offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall. So there was great anger against Israel, and the Israelite army left King Mesha and returned to their own land.