The kings of Israel, Juda, and Edom, fight against the king of Moab.
They want water, which Eliseus procureth without rain: and prophesieth
victory. The king of Moab is overthrown, his city is besieged: he
sacrificeth his firstborn son: so the Israelites raise the siege.
3:1. And Joram the son of Achab, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, in
the eighteenth year of Josaphat, king of Juda. And he reigned twelve
years.
3:2. And 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.
3:3. Nevertheless, he stuck to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat,
who made Israel to sin, nor did he depart from them.
3:4. Now 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.
3:5. And when Achab was dead, he broke the league which he had made
with the king of Israel.
3:6. And king Joram went out that day from Samaria, and mustered all
Israel.
3:7. And 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 are thy people:
and my horses, thy horses.
3:8. And he said: Which way shall we go up? But he answered: By the
desert of Edom.
3:9. So 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.
3:10. And the king of Israel said: Alas, alas, alas, the Lord hath
gathered us three kings together, to deliver us into the hands of Moab.
3:11. And 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.
3:12. And 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.
3:13. And 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?
3:14. And 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.
3:15. But now bring me hither a minstrel. And when the minstrel played,
the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he said:
3:16. Thus saith the Lord: Make the channel of this torrent full of
ditches.
3:17. For 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.
3:18. And this is a small thing in the sight of the Lord: moreover, he
will deliver, also, Moab into your hands.
3:19. And 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.
3:20. And 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.
3:21. And 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.
3:22. And 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,
3:23. And 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.
3:24. And 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.
3:25. And 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.
Brick walls only remained.... It was the proper name of the capital
city of the Moabites. In Hebrew, Kir-Haraseth.
3:26. And 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.
3:27. Then 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.