2 Kings 3:6-24

Other Translations of 2 Kings 3:6-24

King James Version

⁶ And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel. ⁷ And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses. ⁸ And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom. ⁹ So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them. ¹⁰ And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab! ¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may enquire of the Lord by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah. ¹² And 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. ¹³ And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab. ¹⁴ And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. ¹⁵ But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶ And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches. ¹⁷ For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. ¹⁸ And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand. ¹⁹ And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar mar: Heb. grieve every good piece of land with stones.

²⁰ And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. ²¹ And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered gathered: Heb. were cried together all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood in the border. ²² And 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: ²³ And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, slain: Heb. destroyed and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. ²⁴ And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country.

English Standard Version

⁶ So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷ And he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to battle against Moab?" And he said, "I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." ⁸ Then he said, "By which way shall we march?" Jehoram answered, "By the way of the wilderness of Edom." ⁹ So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. ¹⁰ Then the king of Israel said, "Alas! The Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab." ¹¹ And Jehoshaphat said, "Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?" Then one of the king of Israel's servants answered, "Elisha the 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." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. ¹³ And Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother." But the king of Israel said to him, "No; it is the Lord who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab." ¹⁴ And Elisha said, "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you. ¹⁵ But now bring me a musician." And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶ And he said, "Thus says the Lord, 'I will make this dry streambed full of pools.' ¹⁷ For thus says the Lord, 'You shall not see wind or rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals.' ¹⁸ This is a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will also give the Moabites into your hand, ¹⁹ and you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop up all springs of water and ruin every good piece of land with stones."

²⁰ The next morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came from the direction of Edom, till the country was filled with water. ²¹ When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, from the youngest to the oldest, were called out and were drawn up at the border. ²² And when they rose early in the morning and the sun shone on the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. ²³ And they said, "This is blood; the kings have surely fought together and struck one another down. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!" ²⁴ But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose and struck the Moabites, till they fled before them. And they went forward, striking the Moabites as they went.Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

The Message

⁶ So King Joram set out from Samaria and prepared Israel for war. ⁷ His first move was to send a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Would you join me and fight him?" ⁸ Which route shall we take?" "Through the badlands of Edom." ⁹ The king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom started out on what proved to be a looping detour. After seven days they had run out of water for both army and animals. ¹⁰ The king of Israel said, "Bad news! God has gotten us three kings out here to dump us into the hand of Moab." ¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there a prophet of God anywhere around through whom we can consult God?" One of the servants of the king of Israel said, "Elisha son of Shaphat is around somewhere - the one who was Elijah's right-hand man." ¹² Jehoshaphat said, "Good! A man we can trust!" So the three of them - the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom - went to meet him. ¹³ Elisha addressed the king of Israel, "What do you and I have in common? Go consult the puppet-prophets of your father and mother." "Never!" said the king of Israel. "It's God who has gotten us into this fix, dumping all three of us kings into the hand of Moab." ¹⁴ Elisha said, "As God-of-the-Angel-Armies lives, and before whom I stand ready to serve, if it weren't for the respect I have for Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I wouldn't give you the time of day. ¹⁵ But considering - bring me a minstrel." (When a minstrel played, the power of God came on Elisha.) ¹⁶ He then said, "God's word: Dig ditches all over this valley. ¹⁷ Here's what will happen - you won't hear the wind, you won't see the rain, but this valley is going to fill up with water and your army and your animals will drink their fill. ¹⁸ This is easy for God to do; he will also hand over Moab to you. ¹⁹ You will ravage the country: Knock out its fortifications, level the key villages, clear-cut the orchards, clog the springs, and litter the cultivated fields with stones."

²⁰ In the morning - it was at the hour of morning sacrifice - the water had arrived, water pouring in from the west, from Edom, a flash-flood filling the valley with water. ²¹ By this time everyone in Moab had heard that the kings had come up to make war against them. Everyone who was able to handle a sword was called into service and took a stand at the border. ²² They were up and ready early in the morning when the sun rose over the water. From where the Moabites stood, the water reflecting the sun looked red, like blood. ²³ "Blood! Look at the blood!" they said. "The kings must have fought each other - a bloody massacre! Go for the loot, Moab!" ²⁴ When Moab entered the camp of Israel, the Israelites were up on their feet killing Moabites right and left, the Moabites running for their lives, Israelites relentless in pursuit - a slaughter.

New King James Version

⁶ So King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷ Then he went and sent to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?" And he said, "I will go up; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." ⁸ Then he said, "Which way shall we go up?" And he answered, "By way of the Wilderness of Edom." ⁹ So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. ¹⁰ And the king of Israel said, "Alas! For the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab." ¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, "Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?" So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, "Elisha the 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." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. ¹³ Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother." But the king of Israel said to him, "No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab." ¹⁴ And Elisha said, "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you. ¹⁵ But now bring me a musician." Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶ And he said, "Thus says the Lord: 'Make this valley full of ditches.' ¹⁷ For thus says the Lord: 'You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.' ¹⁸ And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. ¹⁹ Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones."

²⁰ Now it happened in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water. ²¹ And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to bear arms and older were gathered; and they stood at the border. ²² Then they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining on the water; and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood. ²³ And they said, "This is blood; the kings have surely struck swords and have killed one another; now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!" ²⁴ So when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they entered their land, killing the Moabites.

New Living Translation

⁶ So King Joram promptly mustered the army of Israel and marched from Samaria. ⁷ On the way, he sent this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you join me in battle against him?" And Jehoshaphat replied, "Why, of course! You and I are as one. My troops are your troops, and my horses are your horses." ⁸ Then Jehoshaphat asked, "What route will we take?" "We will attack from the wilderness of Edom," Joram replied. ⁹ The king of Edom and his troops joined them, and all three armies traveled along a roundabout route through the wilderness for seven days. But there was no water for the men or their animals. ¹⁰ "What should we do?" the king of Israel cried out. "The Lord has brought the three of us here to let the king of Moab defeat us." ¹¹ But King Jehoshaphat of Judah asked, "Is there no prophet of the Lord with us? If there is, we can ask the Lord what to do through him." One of King Joram's officers replied, "Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to be Elijah's personal assistant. " ¹² Jehoshaphat said, "Yes, the Lord speaks through him." So the king of Israel, King Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of Edom went to consult with Elisha. ¹³ "Why are you coming to me?" Elisha asked the king of Israel. "Go to the pagan prophets of your father and mother!" But King Joram of Israel said, "No! For it was the Lord who called us three kings here-only to be defeated by the king of Moab!" ¹⁴ Elisha replied, "As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I wouldn't even bother with you except for my respect for King Jehoshaphat of Judah. ¹⁵ Now bring me someone who can play the harp." While the harp was being played, the power of the Lord came upon Elisha, ¹⁶ and he said, "This is what the Lord says: This dry valley will be filled with pools of water! ¹⁷ You will see neither wind nor rain, says the Lord, but this valley will be filled with water. You will have plenty for yourselves and your cattle and other animals. ¹⁸ But this is only a simple thing for the Lord, for he will make you victorious over the army of Moab! ¹⁹ You will conquer the best of their towns, even the fortified ones. You will cut down all their good trees, stop up all their springs, and ruin all their good land with stones."

²⁰ The next day at about the time when the morning sacrifice was offered, water suddenly appeared! It was flowing from the direction of Edom, and soon there was water everywhere. ²¹ Meanwhile, when the people of Moab heard about the three armies marching against them, they mobilized every man who was old enough to strap on a sword, and they stationed themselves along their border. ²² But when they got up the next morning, the sun was shining across the water, making it appear red to the Moabites-like blood. ²³ "It's blood!" the Moabites exclaimed. "The three armies must have attacked and killed each other! Let's go, men of Moab, and collect the plunder!" ²⁴ But when the Moabites arrived at the Israelite camp, the army of Israel rushed out and attacked them until they turned and ran. The army of Israel chased them into the land of Moab, destroying everything as they went.