4 Kings 3
3
1And Joram the son of Achab reigned over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Josaphat king of Juda. And he reigned twelve years.
2And he did evil before the Lord, but not like his father and his mother: for he took away the statues of Baal, which his father had made.
3Nevertheless he stuck to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, nor did he depart from them.
4Now Mesa, king of Moab, nourished many sheep: and he paid to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams with their fleeces.
5And when Achab was dead, he broke the league which he had made with the king of Israel.
6And king Joram went out that day from Samaria, and mustered all Israel.
7And he sent to Josaphat king of Juda, saying: The king of Moab is revolted from me; come with me against him to battle. And he answered: I will come up. He that is mine is thine: my people, thy people: and my horses, thy horses.
8And he said: Which way shall we go up? But he answered: By the desert of Edom.
9So the king of Israel, and the king of Juda, and the king of Edom went: and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey. And there was no water for the army, and for the beasts, that followed them.
10And the king of Israel said: Alas, alas, alas, the Lord hath gathered us three kings together, to deliver us into the hands of Moab!
11And Josaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may beseech the Lord by him? And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered: Here is Eliseus the son of Saphat, who poured water on the hands of Elias.
12And Josaphat said: The word of the Lord is with him. And the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda, and the king of Edom went down to him.
13And Eliseus said to the king of Israel: What have I to do with thee? Go to the prophets of thy father, and thy mother. And the king of Israel said to him: Why hath the Lord gathered together these three kings, to deliver them into the hands of Moab?
14And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord of hosts liveth, in whose sight I stand, if I did not reverence the face of Josaphat king of Juda, I would not have hearkened to thee, nor looked on thee.
15But now bring me hither a minstrel. And when the minstrel played, the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he said:
16Thus saith the Lord: Make the channel of this torrent full of ditches.
17For thus saith the Lord: You shall not see wind, nor rain: and yet this channel shall be filled with waters. And you shall drink, you and your families, and your beasts.
18And this is a small thing in the sight of the Lord. Moreover he will deliver also Moab into your hands.
19And you shall destroy every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall cut down every fruitful tree, and shall stop up all the springs of waters: and every goodly field you shall cover with stones.
20And it came to pass in the morning, when the sacrifices used to be offered, that, behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
21And all the Moabites, hearing that the kings were come up to fight against them, gathered together all that were girded with a belt upon them, and stood in the borders.
22And they rose early in the morning, and the sun being now up, and shining upon the waters, the Moabites saw the waters over against them red, like blood,
23And they said: It is the blood of the sword: the kings have fought among themselves, and they have killed one another. Go now, Moab, to the spoils.
24And they went into the camp of Israel: but Israel rising up defeated Moab, who fled before them. And they being conquerors went and smote Moab.
25And they destroyed the cities: and they filled every goodly field, every man casting his stone. And they stopt up all the springs of waters: and cut down all the trees that bore fruit, so that brick walls only remained. And the city was beset by the slingers, and a great part thereof destroyed.
26And when the king of Moab saw this, to wit, that the enemies had prevailed, he took with him seven hundred men that drew the sword, to break in upon the king of Edom. But they could not.
27Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation in Israel; and presently they departed from him, and returned into their own country.
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4 Kings 3: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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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