2 Kings 3

Alliance with Judah and Edom 2 Kings 3:6–12

⁶Verse 6. King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel. ⁷Verse 7. He went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me against Moab to battle?” He said, “I will go up. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸Verse 8. He said, “Which way shall we go up?” He answered, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.” ⁹Verse 9. So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched for seven days along a circuitous route. There was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them.

¹⁰Verse 10. The king of Israel said, “Alas! For Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” ¹¹Verse 11. But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a prophet of Yahweh here, that we may inquire of Yahweh by him?” One of the king of Israel’s servants answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah, is here.” ¹²Verse 12. Jehoshaphat said, “Yahweh’s word is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

Elisha's Prophecy of Victory 2 Kings 3:13–19

¹³Verse 13. 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.” The king of Israel said to him, “No, for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” ¹⁴Verse 14. Elisha said, “As Yahweh of Armies lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you. ¹⁵Verse 15. But now bring me a musician.” When the musician played, Yahweh’s hand came on him.

¹⁶Verse 16. He said, “Yahweh says, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’ ¹⁷Verse 17. For Yahweh says, ‘You will not see wind, neither will you see rain, yet that valley will be filled with water, and you will drink, both you and your livestock and your other animals. ¹⁸Verse 18. This is an easy thing in Yahweh’s sight. He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. ¹⁹Verse 19. You shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’”

The Miraculous Provision 2 Kings 3:20–25

²⁰Verse 20. In the morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. ²¹Verse 21. Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all who were able to put on armor, young and old, and stood on the border. ²²Verse 22. They rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. ²³Verse 23. They said, “This is blood. The kings are surely destroyed, and they have struck each other. Now therefore, Moab, to the plunder!”

²⁴Verse 24. When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land attacking the Moabites. ²⁵Verse 25. They beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land each man cast his stone, and filled it. They also stopped all the springs of water, and felled all the good trees, until in Kir Hareseth all they left was its stones; however the men armed with slings went around it, and attacked it.

Moab's Desperation and Defeat 2 Kings 3:26–27

²⁶Verse 26. When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew a sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. ²⁷Verse 27. Then he took his oldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. There was great wrath against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.