2 Kings 3
3
1Joram, son of Ahab, became king of Israel in the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah. He reigned in Samaria for twelve years. 2He did evil in the Lord's sight, but not like his father and mother had done, for he got rid of the stone image of Baal that his father had made. 3However, he still held on to the sins that Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had made Israel commit—he did not give them up.
4Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheep breeder. He used to provide a tribute to the king of Israel of one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. 5But after Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6Immediately King Joram called up the whole Israelite army and left Samaria. 7On his way he sent a message to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you join me in an attack on Moab?”
Jehoshaphat replied, “Yes, I will join you. You and I are as one, my men and your men are as one, and my horses and your horses are as one.”
8Then he asked, “Which way shall we go?”
“We'll take the road through the desert of Edom,” he replied.
9So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set off. Having followed an indirect route for seven days, they ran out of water for their army and for their animals.
10“What are we doing?” complained the king of Israel. “The Lord has brought us three kings here to hand us over to the Moabites!”
11But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn't there a prophet of the Lord here with us? Let us consult the Lord through him.”
One of the king of Israel's officers answered, “Elisha, son of Shaphat, is here. He was Elijah's assistant.”#3:11. “He was Elijah's assistant”: literally, “He used to pour water on Elijah's hands.”
12Jehoshaphat agreed, “The Lord communicates by him.” So the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went to see him.
13Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I got to do with you? Go to your own prophets, those of your father and your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No—because it's the Lord who has brought these three kings here to hand them over to the Moabites!”
14Elisha replied, “As the Lord Almighty lives, the one I serve, if I didn't respect the fact that Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, is here, I wouldn't even look in your direction or acknowledge you. 15Now bring me a musician.”#3:15. “Musician”: usually referring to someone who could play a stringed instrument. A harp is often suggested.
While the musician played, the Lord's power came upon Elisha, 16and he announced, “This is what the Lord says: This valley will be filled with pools of water. For the Lord says: 17You won't see any wind, you won't see any rain, but even so this valley will be filled with water. You will drink, and your cattle, and your animals. 18The Lord views this as something trivial to do; and he will also make you victorious over the Moabites. 19You will conquer every fortified town, and every important town. You will chop down every good tree, block up every spring, and spoil every good field by throwing stones on them.”
20The next day, around the time of the morning sacrifice, water suddenly flowed from the direction of Edom, filling the whole countryside with water. 21All the Moabites had heard that the kings had come to attack them. So everyone who could wear a sword, young and old, was called up and went to guard the border. 22But the next morning when they got up the sun was shining on the water, and to the Moabites on the other side it looked blood red. 23“This is blood!” they said. “The kings and their armies must have attacked and killed each other! Moabites, let's grab the plunder!”
24But when the Moabites arrived at the Israelite camp, the Israelites ran out and attacked them, and they ran away from them. So the Israelites invaded their country and killed the Moabites. 25They destroyed the towns, and each soldier threw stones on every good field until it was covered. They blocked up every spring and chopped down every good tree. Only Kir-haraseth still had its walls, but soldiers using slingshots surrounded it and attacked it as well.
26When the king of Moab realized he'd lost the battle, he led seven hundred swordsmen in an attempt to break through and attack the king of Edom, but they weren't able to do so. 27So the king of Moab took his firstborn son, who was meant to succeed him, and sacrificed him as a burnt offering on the town wall. Great anger came upon the Israelites, so they left and went back to their own country.#3:27. Whether this was great anger displayed by the Moabites against the Israelites, or whether such a horrific act made the Israelites very angry is debated. It seems more likely that such a gruesome human sacrifice was so offensive, even to the Israelites in their lax spiritual state, that they simply left.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
2 Kings 3
3
Moab’s King Refuses to Obey Israel’s King
1Joram became king of Israel in Samaria. It was in the 18th year that Jehoshaphat was king of Judah. Joram ruled for 12 years. He was the son of Ahab. 2Joram did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. But he wasn’t as bad as his father and mother had been. Joram’s father had made a sacred stone used to worship the god named Baal. Joram got rid of it. 3But he kept on committing the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. Jeroboam had also caused Israel to commit those same sins. Joram didn’t turn away from them.
4Mesha raised sheep. He was king of Moab. He had to pay the king of Israel 100,000 lambs a year. He also had to pay him with the wool of 100,000 rams a year. 5After Ahab died, Moab’s king refused to obey the next king of Israel. 6So at that time King Joram started out from Samaria. He gathered together all of Israel’s troops. 7He also sent a message to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. Joram said, “The king of Moab is refusing to obey me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?”
“Yes. I’ll go with you,” Jehoshaphat replied. “My men will go with you. My horses will also go with you.”
8“What road should we take to attack Moab?” Joram asked.
“The one that goes through the Desert of Edom,” Jehoshaphat answered.
9So the king of Israel marched out. The king of Judah and the king of Edom went with him. Their armies marched around the southern end of the Dead Sea. After seven days they ran out of water. There wasn’t any water for the men or their animals.
10“What should we do now?” exclaimed the king of Israel. “The Lord has called us three kings together. Did he do it only to hand us over to Moab?”
11But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord here? Can’t we ask the Lord for advice through him?”
An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha is here. He’s the son of Shaphat. Elisha used to serve Elijah.”
12Jehoshaphat said, “The Lord speaks through him.” So the king of Israel went down to see Elisha. Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom also went there.
13Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why do you want to come to me? Go to your father’s prophets. Go to your mother’s prophets.”
“No,” the king of Israel answered. “The Lord called us three kings together. He did it to hand us over to Moab.”
14Elisha said, “I serve the Lord who rules over all. You can be sure that he lives. And you can be just as sure that I have respect for Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t pay any attention to you. 15But now bring me someone who plays the harp.”
While that person was playing the harp, the Lord’s power came on Elisha. 16Elisha announced, “The Lord says, ‘I will fill this valley with pools of water.’ 17This will happen because the Lord says, ‘You will not see wind or rain. But this valley will be filled with water. Then you, your cattle and your other animals will have water to drink.’ 18This is an easy thing for the Lord to do. He will also hand Moab over to you. 19You will destroy every city that has high walls around it. You will destroy every major town. You will cut down every good tree. You will stop up all the springs of water. And you will cover every good field with stones.”
20The next day, the time came to offer the morning sacrifice. And then it happened! Water was flowing from the direction of Edom! In fact, the land was filled with water!
21Now all the people of Moab had heard that the kings had come to fight against them. So the king of Moab sent for all Moab’s fighting men. It didn’t matter whether they were young or old. He sent for everyone who could carry a weapon. All of them were stationed at the border. 22They got up early in the morning. The sun was already shining on the water. Across the way, the water looked red to the men of Moab. It looked like blood. 23“That’s blood!” they said. “Those kings must have fought and killed each other. Let’s go, Moab! Let’s take everything that has any value.”
24So the men of Moab went to the camp of Israel. Just as they arrived there, the men of Israel got ready to fight. They fought against the men of Moab until those men ran away. The men of Israel marched into the land and attacked it. They killed the people of Moab. 25They destroyed the towns. Each man threw a large stone on every good field. They did that until the fields were covered. They stopped up all the springs of water. And they cut down every good tree. The only town left with any stones in place was Kir Hareseth. But some of the Israelites armed with slings surrounded it. Then they attacked it.
26The king of Moab saw that the battle had gone against him. So he took with him 700 men who had swords. They tried to break through the battle lines to the king of Edom. But they couldn’t do it. 27Then the king of Moab took his oldest son. He was the son who would become the next king of Moab. But the king offered his son as a sacrifice on the city wall. That shocked and terrified the men of Israel. So they pulled back and returned to their own land.
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