2 Kings 3 - Easy To Read Version Easy To Read Version
2 Kings 3

¹ Jehoram son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria. He began to rule during Jehoshaphat’s 18th year as king of Judah. Jehoram ruled 12 years.

² Jehoram did the things that the Lord said were wrong. But Jehoram was not like his father and mother, because he removed the pillar that his father had made for worshiping Baal. [16]

³ But he continued to do the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat. Jeroboam caused the Israelites to sin. Jehoram did not stop the sins of Jeroboam.

⁴ Mesha was the king of Moab. Mesha owned many sheep. Mesha gave the wool of 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams [17] to the king of Israel.

⁵ But when Ahab died, the king of Moab broke away from the rule of the king of Israel.

⁶ Then King Jehoram went out of Samaria and gathered together all the men of Israel.

⁷ Jehoram sent {messengers} to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. Jehoram said, “The king of Moab has broken away from my rule. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?”

⁸ Jehoshaphat asked Jehoram, “Which way should we go?”

⁹ So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They traveled around for seven days. There was not enough water for the army or for their animals.

¹⁰ Finally, the king of Israel (Jehoram) said, “Oh, I think the Lord really brought us three kings together only to let the Moabites defeat us!”

¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, “Surely one of the Lord’s prophets is here. Let’s ask the prophet what the Lord says we should do.”

¹² Jehoshaphat said, “The Lord’s word is with Elisha!”

¹³ Elisha said to the king of Israel (Jehoram), “What do you want from me? Go to the prophets of your father and mother!”

¹⁴ Elisha said, “I respect Jehoshaphat the king of Judah and I serve the Lord All-Powerful. And as sure as he lives, I came here only because of Jehoshaphat. I tell you the truth, if Jehoshaphat was not here, I would not pay any attention to you. I would ignore you completely!

¹⁵ But now bring me a person who plays the harp.”

¹⁶ Then Elisha said, “This is what the Lord says: Dig holes in the valley.

¹⁷ This is what the Lord says: You won’t see wind, you won’t see rain. But that valley will be filled with water. Then you and your cows and other animals will have water to drink.

¹⁸ It is easy for the Lord to do. He will also let you defeat the Moabites.

¹⁹ You will attack every strong city and every good city. You will cut down every good tree. You will stop up all the springs of water. You will ruin every good field with the stones {that you throw at it}.”

²⁰ In the morning, at the time for the morning sacrifice, water began flowing from the direction of Edom and filled the valley.

²¹ The people in Moab heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. So the people in Moab gathered together all the men old enough to wear armor. [20] They waited at the border, {ready for the battle}.

²² The people of Moab got up early that morning. The rising sun was shining on the water in the valley, and it looked like blood to the people of Moab.

²³ The people of Moab said, “Look at the blood! The kings must have fought against each other. They must have destroyed each other. Let’s go take the valuable things from the dead bodies!”

²⁴ The Moabite people came to the Israelite camp. But the Israelites came out and attacked the Moabite army. The Moabite people ran away from the Israelites. The Israelites followed them into Moab to fight the Moabites.

²⁵ The Israelites destroyed the cities. They threw their stones [21] at every good field in Moab. They stopped up all the springs of water. And they cut down all the good trees. The Israelites fought all the way to Kir Hareseth. The soldiers surrounded Kir Hareseth and attacked it, too!

²⁶ The king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him. So he took 700 men with swords to break through {the army and kill} the king of Edom. But they could not break through to the king of Edom.

²⁷ Then the king of Moab took his oldest son. This was the son who would become the next king after him. On the wall around the city, the king of Moab offered his son as a burnt offering. This upset the people of Israel very much. So the people of Israel left the king of Moab and went back to their own land.