2 Kings 3
1Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
2And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.
3Nevertheless he clung unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin; he departed not from them.
4And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and rendered unto the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool.
5But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel.
7And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me: will you go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as you are, my people as your people, and my horses as your horses.
8And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.
9So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they made a circuit of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the army, and for the cattle that followed them.
10And the king of Israel said, Alas! the LORD has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!
11But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.
12And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
13And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with you? get you to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.
14And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you.
15But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.
16And he said, Thus says the LORD,
Make this valley full of ditches.
17For thus says the LORD,
You shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that you may drink, both you, and your cattle, and your animals.
18And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.
19And you shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up all wells of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.
20And it came to pass in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
21And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armor, and older, and stood in the border.
22And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood:
23And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.
24And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck down the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country.
25And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and covered it; and they stopped up all the wells of water, and cut down all the good trees: only in Kir-haraseth left they its stones; the slingers surrounded it, and conquered it.
26And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto 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 came great wrath against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
Commentaries for 2 Kings 3:0