1 In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram {yehoram: royal successor}, son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for twelve years {shanah: measured period}.
2 And he did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Judge}, yet not as his father and his mother had done; he removed the pillar {matzeva: cultic monument} of Baal that his father had made.
3 Still, he held fast to the sins of Jeroboam {yarov'am: rival cult leader} son of Nebat, by which he caused Israel to sin {hecheti: cause to sin}; he did not turn away from them.
4 Now Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheepbreeder {noked: flock overseer}; he paid the king of Israel a tribute of one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams {tsamer: fleece tribute}.
5 Following Ahab’s death, the king of Moab rebelled {vayipsha: breached loyalty} against the king of Israel {Yisrael: Covenant People}.
6 And King Jehoram {Yehoram: Royal Leader} departed from Samaria that day and mustered {paqad: official mobilization} all Israel.
7 He departed and dispatched word to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab {moav: ancient eastern neighbor} has rebelled against me. Will you accompany me to engage Moab in battle {milchamah: formal engagement}?” Jehoshaphat responded, “I will go up; I stand with you—my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
8 Then he said, “By what way {derekh: specified route} shall we go up?” And he answered, “By the way of the wilderness of Edom {Edom: ancient region southeast of Israel}.”
9 So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom journeyed by a winding path for seven days; yet there was no water for the camp {machaneh: military encampment} or for the livestock {behemah: domestic animals} at their feet.
10 And the king of Israel said, “Alas {ahah: lament of distress}! For the LORD {YHWH, Divine Summoner} has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.”
11 And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not a prophet here for the LORD {YHWH, Revealer of counsel}, that we may inquire of the LORD through him?” And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water {mayim: servant attendance} on the hands of Elijah.”
12 And Jehoshaphat said, “The message {devar: divine communication} of the LORD {YHWH, Revealing Sovereign} is with him.” So the king of Israel, 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.” And the king of Israel said to him, “No; for the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Summoner} has called these three kings {melakhim: allied rulers} to give them into the hand of Moab.”
14 And Elisha said, “As the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Commander of Armies} lives, before whom I have stood, if it were not that I have regard {nose: show consideration} for Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would neither look toward you nor see you.”
15 Now bring me a musician {menaggen: skilled instrumentalist}. And it happened that while the musician played, the hand of the LORD {YHWH, Empowering Presence} came upon him.
16 And he said, "Thus says the LORD {YHWH, Miracle Worker}: 'Make this streambed {nakhal: seasonal streambed} full of trenches.'"
17 For this is what the LORD {YHWH, Water Provider} says: You will not see wind {ruach: unseen force}, and you will not see rain; but that streambed will be filled with water, and you, your livestock, and your animals will drink.
18 And this is but a trivial matter in the eyes of the LORD {YHWH, Supreme Judge}; He will also deliver Moab {moav: ancient enemy} into your hand.
19 You shall strike every fortified city {mivtzar: stronghold} and every choice city, you shall fell {tappilu: forcefully cut down} every good tree, you shall stop up every spring of water, and you shall ruin every good field with stones.
20 And it occurred in the morning, as the offering {minchah: grain sacrifice} ascended, behold {vehineh: narrative marker}, water came from the path of Edom, and the land became flooded with water.
21 And all Moab heard that the kings had gone up to fight against them, and they called out {vayits’a’aku: summoned soldiers} everyone who could gird on a belt and upward, and they stood on the border {gevul: territory boundary}.
22 They rose early in the morning, and as the sun shone upon the water, Moab {Moav: enemy nation} saw the water on the opposite side, red like blood {dam: symbol of divine judgment}.
23 And they said, “This is blood {dam: sign of slaughter}! The sword {chorev: weapon of warfare} has struck down the kings; each man has attacked his companion. Now then, Moab, to the plunder!”
24 When they came to the camp {machaneh: army encampment} of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck Moab {moav: eastern kingdom}, and the Moabites fled before them; then they pressed on, entering in and striking Moab.
25 They destroyed the cities, and each man threw his stone on every good field {chelkah: fertile portion} and filled it. They stopped up every spring of water and cut down every good tree, leaving only the stones in the wall of Kir Hareseth. Then the slingers {kalla’im: siege specialists} surrounded and struck the city.
26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle {milchamah: large-scale conflict} was too strong for him, he took seven hundred men drawing swords to break through to the king of Edom {edom: southern neighbor}, but they were not able.
27 Then he took his firstborn son {bekhor: designated heir}, who was to reign in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering {olah: complete consumption in sacrifice} on the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel, and they withdrew from him and returned to their land.