2 Kings 3

Moab Rebels & Elisha Helps Out

1 Jehoram son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat’s rule in Judah, and he ruled for twelve years.

2 He did what was whack in the eyes of the Lord, but not as bad as his pops and his mama. He did get rid of the sacred pillar of Baal that his pops had made.

3 Still, he stuck with the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He did not break away from those.

4 Now, Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he used to pay the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.

5 But when Ahab passed away, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

6 So King Jehoram bounced from Samaria at that time and gathered all Israel.

7 He sent a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab rebelled against me. You are going to roll with me to fight Moab,” Jehoshaphat said, “I am with you, my people are your people, my horses are your horses.”

8 He asked, "Whichh way should we roll up,” Jehoram said, “Through the Desert of Edom.”

9 So the king of Israel went, along with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They marched for seven days, but there was no water for the army or for the animals that were with them.

10 Then the king of Israel said, “Man, the Lord must have called these three kings out here just to hand us over to Moab!”

11 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here we can ask through him?” One of the king of Israel’s officials answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here, the one who used to pour water on Elijah’s hands.”

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

13 Elisha told the king of Israel, “What do you want with me? Go to the prophets of your pops and your mama!” The king of Israel told him, “Nah, because the Lord called these three kings out here just to hand us over to Moab.”

14 Elisha said, “As the Lord of Armies lives, the One I serve, if I did not respect Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not even look at you or acknowledge you!”

15 “But now, bring me a musician.” And it happened, while the musician was playing, the hand of the Lord came on him.

16 And he said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Dig trenches all over this valley!’”

17 “Because this is what the Lord says: ‘You are not going to see any wind or no rain, but this valley is going to be filled with water, so you, your cattle, and your animals can drink.’”

18 “And that is just a small thing in the sight of the Lord. He is also going to hand Moab over to you.”

19 “You are going to hit every fortified city and every top city. You are going to chop down every good tree, stop up every water spring, and trash every good field with stones.”

20 Sure enough, in the morning, around the time of the regular sacrifice, water started flowing from the direction of Edom, and the land was flooded with water.

21 Now, all Moab had heard that the kings had rolled up to fight them. So every man, from the youngest to the oldest, got drafted and stood at the border.

22 When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water, and the Moabites saw the water in front of them looking red like blood.

23 They said, “That is blood! The kings must have fought each other and chopped each other up! Now, Moab, get to the loot!”

24 But when they rolled up to the Israelite camp, the Israelites busted out and attacked the Moabites, and they fled before them. The Israelites went deep into Moab, hitting and destroying.

25 They tore down the cities, and on every good field, each man threw a stone, filling it up. They stopped up every water spring and chopped down every good tree. Only in Kir Hareseth were its stone walls left standing, but the slingers surrounded it and hit it hard.

26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too hot for him, he took seven hundred swordsmen with him to try to break through to the king of Aram, but they could not.

27 Then he took his firstborn son, who was supposed to be king after him, and offered him as a burnt sacrifice on the wall. And there was a massive anger against Israel. So they pulled back from him and went back to their own land.