Moab revolts
1Joram3:1 Hebrew Jehoram, a variant of Joram; also in verse 6 son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned for twelve years. 2He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made. 3Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.
4Now Mesha king of Moab raised sheep, and he had to pay the king of Israel a tribute of a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams. 5But after Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6So at that time King Joram set out from Samaria and mobilised all Israel. 7He also sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: ‘The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?’
‘I will go with you,’ he replied. ‘I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.’
8‘By what route shall we attack?’ he asked.
‘Through the Desert of Edom,’ he answered.
9So the king of Israel set out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. After a roundabout march of seven days, the army had no more water for themselves or for the animals with them.
10‘What!’ exclaimed the king of Israel. ‘Has the Lord called us three kings together only to deliver us into the hands of Moab?’
11But Jehoshaphat asked, ‘Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may enquire of the Lord?’
An officer of the king of Israel answered, ‘Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.3:11 That is, he was Elijah’s personal servant.’
12Jehoshaphat said, ‘The word of the Lord is with him.’ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
13Elisha said to the king of Israel, ‘Why do you want to involve me? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.’
‘No,’ the king of Israel answered, ‘because it was the Lord who called us three kings together to deliver us into the hands of Moab.’
14Elisha said, ‘As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not pay any attention to you. 15But now bring me a harpist.’
While the harpist was playing, the hand of the Lord came on Elisha 16and he said, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water. 17For this is what the Lord says: you will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. 18This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; he will also deliver Moab into your hands. 19You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, block up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones.’
20The next morning, about the time for offering the sacrifice, there it was – water flowing from the direction of Edom! And the land was filled with water.
21Now all the Moabites had heard that the kings had come to fight against them; so every man, young and old, who could bear arms was called up and stationed on the border. 22When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water. To the Moabites across the way, the water looked red – like blood. 23‘That’s blood!’ they said. ‘Those kings must have fought and slaughtered each other. Now to the plunder, Moab!’
24But when the Moabites came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and fought them until they fled. And the Israelites invaded the land and slaughtered the Moabites. 25They destroyed the towns, and each man threw a stone on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up all the springs and cut down every good tree. Only Kir Hareseth was left with its stones in place, but men armed with slings surrounded it and attacked it.
26When the king of Moab saw that the battle had gone against him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they failed. 27Then he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. The fury against Israel was great; they withdrew and returned to their own land.
以色列與摩押爭戰
1猶大王約沙法執政第十八年，亞哈的兒子約蘭在撒瑪利亞登基做以色列王，執政十二年。 2他做耶和華視為惡的事，不過沒有他父母那麼敗壞，因為他除掉了他父親立的巴力神柱。 3可是他沉溺於尼八的兒子耶羅波安所犯的罪惡，使以色列人陷入罪中。
4摩押王米沙以牧羊為業，每年向以色列王進貢十萬隻公綿羊的羊毛和十萬隻羊羔。 5亞哈死後，米沙背叛了以色列王。 6那時，約蘭從撒瑪利亞出發，召集以色列全軍。 7他還派人去對猶大王約沙法說：「摩押王背叛了我，你肯和我一起去攻打摩押嗎？」約沙法回覆說：「我肯去。你我不分彼此，我的軍隊就是你的軍隊，我的戰馬就是你的戰馬。 8我們從哪一條路進攻呢？」約蘭答道：「從以東的曠野。」
9於是，以色列王跟猶大王和以東王聯合出兵。他們繞道行了七天，軍隊和隨行的牲畜都沒有水喝了。 10以色列王叫道：「唉！怎麼辦呢？耶和華招聚我們三王，是要把我們交給摩押王！」 11約沙法說：「這裡有沒有耶和華的先知？我們可以託他求問耶和華。」以色列王的一個臣僕答道：「沙法的兒子以利沙在這裡，以前他是以利亞的助手。」 12約沙法說：「耶和華會藉他說話。」於是以色列王、猶大王和以東王一起去見以利沙。
13以利沙對以色列王說：「我與你有什麼關係？你去問你父母的先知吧！」以色列王說：「不要這樣說，耶和華招聚我們三王，是要把我們交給摩押王！」 14以利沙說：「我事奉的是永活的萬軍之耶和華，我憑祂起誓，若不是看猶大王約沙法的情面，我決不理你，也不會見你。 15現在你們給我找一個琴師來。」琴師彈琴的時候，耶和華的靈降在以利沙身上， 16他說：「耶和華吩咐你們要在這山谷中到處挖溝， 17因為耶和華說，『你們雖不見風，也不見雨，但這谷中必到處有水，人畜都會有水喝。』 18這對耶和華來說是微不足道的事，祂還要把摩押人交在你們手中。 19你們必攻陷所有的堅城重鎮，砍倒各種佳美的樹木，堵塞所有水泉，用石頭毀壞一切良田。」 20次日早晨，約在獻祭的時候，水從以東流來，遍地都是水。
21摩押人聽說三王聯軍進攻他們，於是把凡能打仗的，不論老少都聚集起來，把守在邊界上。 22第二天早晨，日光照在水面上，摩押人起來後，看見對面的水像血一樣紅， 23便說：「那是血啊！一定是三王內訌，自相殘殺。弟兄們，我們去搶財物吧！」 24他們到了以色列營，以色列人奮起迎戰，殺得他們轉身逃跑。以色列人乘勝追擊，殺入摩押境內，擊殺摩押人， 25摧毀城邑，人人拋擲石頭填滿所有良田，堵塞一切水泉，砍倒各種佳美樹木。摩押境內僅剩的吉珥·哈列設城也遭到甩石的士兵圍攻。 26摩押王見戰事不利，就率領七百名刀兵，企圖從以東王那邊突圍，但沒有成功。 27於是，他在城上將本應繼承自己王位的長子殺掉，獻為燔祭。以色列人感到非常恐懼3·27 「非常恐懼」希伯來文是「大怒」，含「噁心、恐懼」之意。，便退兵回國了。
