| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Ahab's son Jehoram ascended to the throne of Israel at Samaria during the eighteenth year of the reign of Judah's king Jehoshaphat. He reigned for twelve years, | 1In the eighteenth year of King Jehoshaphat's reign over Judah, Ahab's son Jehoram became king over Israel in Samaria; he ruled for twelve years. |
| 2practicing evil in the LORD's presence, only not to the extent that his mother and father had done —he forced abolition of the sacred pillar to Baal that his father had crafted. | 2He did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not to the same degree as his father and mother. He did remove the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. |
| 3Even so, he kept on committing the sins that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done, which ensnared Israel in sin—he never abandoned them. | 3Yet he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin; he did not turn from them. |
| 4Meanwhile, Moab's king Mesha was a sheep breeder. He used to pay 100,000 lambs and the wool from 100,000 rams to the king of Israel as tribute. | 4Now King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. He would send as tribute to the king of Israel 100,000 male lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. |
| 5After Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. | 5When Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. |
| 6So king Jehoram left Samaria at that time and mustered the entire army of Israel. | 6At that time King Jehoram left Samaria and assembled all Israel for war. |
| 7As he was going out, he sent this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight Moab?" "I'm coming," Jehoshaphat replied. "I'm like you! My army will act like your army and my cavalry like your cavalry," Then Jehoshaphat added: | 7He sent this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you fight with me against Moab?" Jehoshaphat replied, "I will join you in the campaign; my army and horses are at your disposal." |
| 8"What road do we take?" Jehoram answered, "We'll go along the Edom desert road." | 8He then asked, "Which invasion route are we going to take?" Jehoram answered, "By the road through the Desert of Edom." |
| 9So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom made a complete circuit on the road for seven days, but there was no water for the army or for the livestock that accompanied them. | 9So the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom set out together. They wandered around on the road for seven days and finally ran out of water for the men and animals they had with them. |
| 10Then the king of Israel remarked, "Oh no! The LORD has summoned us three kings so he can hand us over to Moab, hasn't he?" | 10The king of Israel said, "Oh no! Certainly the LORD has summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to the king of Moab!" |
| 11Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there a prophet who belongs to the LORD and through whom we can ask the LORD a question?" One of the king of Israel's attendants replied, "Shaphat's son Elisha lives here. He used to be Elijah's personal attendant." | 11Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there no prophet of the LORD here that we might seek the LORD's direction?" One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, "Elisha son of Shapat is here; he used to be Elijah's servant." |
| 12Jehoshaphat answered, "He receives messages from the LORD." So the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went to visit Elisha. | 12Jehoshaphat said, "The LORD speaks through him." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to visit him. |
| 13Elisha asked the king of Israel, "What do I have in common with you? Go visit your parents' prophets." The king of Israel replied, "No! The LORD has summoned these three kings so he can hand them over to Moab!" | 13Elisha said to the king of Israel, "Why are you here? Go to your father's prophets or your mother's prophets!" The king of Israel replied to him, "No, for the LORD is the one who summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to Moab." |
| 14But Elisha responded, "As the LORD of the Heavenly Armies lives, in whose presence I stand, I would never pay attention to you or even look in your direction were it not for my continuous respect for the presence of King Jehoshaphat of Judah. | 14Elisha said, "As certainly as the LORD who rules over all lives (whom I serve), if I did not respect King Jehoshaphat of Judah, I would not pay attention to you or acknowledge you. |
| 15Now bring me a musician." As the musician played, the hand of the LORD rested on Elisha, | 15But now, get me a musician." When the musician played, the LORD energized him, |
| 16so he said, "This is what the LORD says: 'Fill this valley with trench after trench!' | 16and he said, "This is what the LORD says, 'Make many cisterns in this valley,' |
| 17This is what the LORD says: 'Though you won't see wind or storm, nevertheless that river will overflow with water so that you, your cattle, and your livestock may drink.' | 17for this is what the LORD says, 'You will not feel any wind or see any rain, but this valley will be full of water and you and your cattle and animals will drink.' |
| 18And this is the easy part for the LORD —he's also going to hand the Moabites over to you! | 18This is an easy task for the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you. |
| 19Then you are to attack every fortified city and every significant city. Cut down every significant tree, fill in all of the water springs, and ruin every prime piece of land with stones." | 19You will defeat every fortified city and every important city. You must chop down every productive tree, stop up all the springs, and cover all the cultivated land with stones." |
| 20The very next day, about the time of the morning offering, water suddenly appeared, coming from the direction of Edom, and the land overflowed with water! | 20Sure enough, the next morning, at the time of the morning sacrifice, water came flowing down from Edom and filled the land. |
| 21Meanwhile, all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to attack them, so everyone old enough to wear battle armor was mustered to stand guard at the border. | 21Now all Moab had heard that the kings were attacking, so everyone old enough to fight was mustered and placed at the border. |
| 22As the Moabites arose early that morning, the sun cast its rays on the water, and to the Moabites, the water across from them appeared to be red like blood. | 22When they got up early the next morning, the sun was shining on the water. To the Moabites, who were some distance away, the water looked red like blood. |
| 23So they concluded, "This must be blood! The kings must have had one mighty big fight and each man killed the other! So let's go get the battle spoil, Moab!" | 23The Moabites said, "It's blood! The kings are totally destroyed! They have struck one another down! Now, Moab, seize the plunder!" |
| 24But when the Moabites arrived at the Israeli encampment, the Israelis got up and attacked them. The Moabites ran away from the Israelis, who followed them into the land as they continued their pursuit against Moab. | 24When they approached the Israelite camp, the Israelites rose up and struck down the Moabites, who then ran from them. The Israelites thoroughly defeated Moab. |
| 25They destroyed their cities, and all of them threw stones onto every piece of farm land, ruining the fields. Then they filled in all the water wells and chopped down all of the useful trees. Stone walls remained surrounding Kir-hareseth only, until the archers surrounded and attacked that city. | 25They tore down the cities and each man threw a stone into every cultivated field until they were covered. They stopped up every spring and chopped down every productive tree. Only Kir Hareseth was left intact, but the slingers surrounded it and attacked it. |
| 26When the king of Moab realized that the battle was going strongly against him, he took 700 expert swordsmen to attempt to break through to the king of Edom, but was unable to do so. | 26When the king of Moab realized he was losing the battle, he and 700 swordsmen tried to break through and attack the king of Edom, but they failed. |
| 27So he took his firstborn son, whom he intended to reign after him, and offered him up as a burnt offering on the wall. There subsequently came great anger against Israel, so they abandoned the attack and returned to their homeland. | 27So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him up as a burnt sacrifice on the wall. There was an outburst of divine anger against Israel, so they broke off the attack and returned to their homeland. |
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