[1] And Jehoram, the son of Ahab, became king over Israel in Samaria in the
eighteenth year of the rule of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah; and he was king
for twelve years. [2] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord; but not like his
father and his mother, for he put away the stone pillar of Baal which his
father had made. [3] But still he did the same sins which Jeroboam, the son
of Nebat, did and made Israel do; he went on in them. [4] Now Mesha, king
of Moab, was a sheep-farmer; and he gave regularly to the king of Israel
the wool from a hundred thousand lambs and a hundred thousand sheep. [5]
But when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab got free from the authority of the
king of Israel. [6] At that time, King Jehoram went out from Samaria and
got all Israel together in fighting order. [7] And he sent to Jehoshaphat,
king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has got free from my authority:
will you go with me to make war on Moab? And he said, I will go with you: I
am as you are, my people as your people, and my horses as your horses. [8]
And he said, Which way are we to go? And he said in answer, By the waste
land of Edom. [9] So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the
king of Edom by a roundabout way for seven days: and there was no water for
the army or for the beasts they had with them. [10] And the king of Israel
said, Here is trouble: for the Lord has got these three kings together to
give them into the hands of Moab. [11] But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no
prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may get directions from the Lord?
And one of the king of Israel's men said in answer, Elisha, the son of
Shaphat, is here, who was servant to 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] But Elisha said to the king of Israel,
What have I to do with you? go to the prophets of your father and your
mother. And the king of Israel said, No; for the Lord has got these three
kings together to give them up into the hands of Moab. [14] Then Elisha
said, By the life of the Lord of armies whose servant I am, if it was not
for the respect I have for Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, I would not give a
look at you, or see you. [15] But now, get me a player of music, and it
will come about that while the man is playing, the hand of the Lord will
come on me and I will give you the word of the Lord: and they got a player
of music, and while the man was playing, the hand of the Lord was on him.
[16] And he said, The Lord says, I will make this valley full of
water-holes. [17] For the Lord says, Though you see no wind or rain, the
valley will be full of water, and you and your armies and your beasts will
have drink. [18] And this will be only a small thing to the Lord: in
addition he will give the Moabites into your hands. [19] And you are to put
every walled town to destruction, cutting down every good tree, and
stopping up every water-spring, and making all the good land rough with
stones. [20] Now in the morning, about the time when the offering was made,
they saw water flowing from the direction of Edom till the country was full
of water. [21] Now all Moab, hearing that the kings had come to make war
against them, got together all who were able to take up arms and went
forward to the edge of the country. [22] And early in the morning they got
up, when the sun was shining on the water, and they saw the water facing
them as red as blood. [23] Then they said, This is blood: it is clear that
destruction has come on the kings; they have been fighting one another: now
come, Moab, let us take their goods. [24] But when they came to the tents
of Israel, the Israelites came out and made a violent attack on the
Moabites, so that they went in flight before them; and they went forward
still attacking them; [25] Pulling down the towns, covering every good
field with stones, stopping up all the water-springs, and cutting down all
the good trees; they went on driving Moab before them till only in
Kir-hareseth were there any Moabites; and the fighting-men went round the
town raining stones on it. [26] And when the king of Moab saw that the
fight was going against him, he took with him seven hundred men armed with
swords, with the idea of forcing a way through to the king of Aram, but
they were not able to do so. [27] Then he took his oldest son, who would
have been king after him, offering him as a burned offering on the wall. So
there was great wrath against Israel; and they went away from him, back to
their country.
