Jehoram's reign.

1 ¶ Now Jehoramº the sonº of Ahabº began to reignºª over² Israelº in Samariaº the eighteenthºº yearº of Jehoshaphatº kingº of Judah,º and reignedºª twelveºº years.º 2 And he wroughtºª evilº in the sightº of the LORD;º but² not² like his father,º and like his mother:º for he put awayºª² the imageº of Baalº that² his fatherº had made.ºª 3 Nevertheless² he cleavedºª unto the sinsº of Jeroboamº the sonº of Nebat,º which² made² Israelº to sin;ºª he departedºª not² therefrom.²

Mesha rebelleth.

4 ¶ And Meshaº kingº of Moabº was² a sheepmaster,º and renderedºª unto the kingº of Israelº an hundredº thousandº lambs,º and an hundredº thousandº rams,º with the wool.º 5 But it came to pass,² when Ahabº was dead,º that the kingº of Moabº rebelledºª against the kingº of Israel.º

Jehoram, with Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom, being distressed for want of water, by Elisha obtaineth water, and promise of victory.

6 ¶ And kingº Jehoramº went outºª of Samariaº² the same² time,º and numberedºª² all² Israel.º 7 And he went¹ª² and sentºª to² Jehoshaphatº the kingº of Judah,º saying,ºª The kingº of Moabº hath rebelledºª against me: wilt thou go¹ª² with² me against² Moabº to battle?º And he said,ºª I will go up:ºª I [am] as thou [art], my peopleº as thy people,º [and] my horsesº as thy horses.º 8 And he said,ºª Which²² wayº shall we go up?ºª And he answered,ºª The wayº through the wildernessº of Edom.º 9 So the kingº of Israelº went,¹ª² and the kingº of Judah,º and the kingº of Edom:º and they fetched a compassºª of sevenº days'º journey:º and there was² no² waterº for the host,º and for the cattleº that² followedº them. 10 And the kingº of Israelº said,ºª Alas!º that² the LORDº hath calledºª these² threeº kingsº together,¹ª to deliverºª them into the handº of Moab!º 11 But Jehoshaphatº said,ºª [Is there] not² here² a prophetº of the LORD,º that we may enquireºª of² the LORDº by²² him? And oneº of the kingº of Israel's¹ servantsº²² answeredºª and said,ºª Here² [is] Elishaº the sonº of Shaphat,º which² pouredºª waterº on² the handsº of Elijah.º 12 And Jehoshaphatº said,ºª The wordº of the LORDº isº with² him. So the kingº of Israelº and Jehoshaphatº and the kingº of Edomº went downºª to² him. 13 And Elishaº saidºª unto² the kingº of Israel,º What² have I to do with thee? get¹ª² thee to² the prophetsº of thy father,º and to² the prophetsº of thy mother.º And the kingº of Israelº saidºª unto him, Nay:² for² the LORDº hath calledºª these² threeº kingsº together,¹ª to deliverºª them into the handº of Moab.º 14 And Elishaº said,ºª [As] the LORDº of hostsº liveth,º beforeº whom² I stand,ºª surely,² were it not² that¹ I² regardºª the presenceº of Jehoshaphatº the kingº of Judah,º I would not lookºª toward² thee, nor² seeºª thee. 15 But now² bringºª me a minstrel.ºª And it came to pass,² when the minstrelºª played,ºª that the handº of the LORDº came² upon² him. 16 And he said,ºª Thus² saithºª the LORD,º Makeºª this² valleyº full of ditches.º 17 For² thus² saithºª the LORD,º Ye shall not² seeºª wind,º neither² shall ye seeºª rain;º yet that² valleyº shall be filledºª with water,º that ye may drink,ºª both ye,² and your cattle,º and your beasts.º 18 And this² is [but] a light thingºª in the sightº of the LORD:º he will deliverºª² the Moabitesº also into your hand.º 19 And ye shall smiteºª every² fencedº city,º and every² choiceº city,º and shall fellºª every² goodº tree,º and stopºª all² wellsº of water,º and marºª every² goodº piece¹ of land² with stones.º 20 And it came to pass² in the morning,º when the meat offeringº was offered,ºª that, behold,² there cameºª waterº by the wayº² of Edom,º and the countryº was filledºª with² water.º

The Moabites, deceived by the colour of the water, coming to spoil, are overcome.

21 ¶ And when all² the Moabitesº heardºª that² the kingsº were come upºª to fightºª against them, they gathered¹ª all²²² that were able to put¹ª on² armour,º and upward,º and stoodºª in² the border.º 22 And they rose up earlyºª in the morning,º and the sunº shoneºª upon² the water,º and the Moabitesº sawºª² the waterº on the other sideº² [as] redº as blood:º 23 And they said,ºª This² [is] blood:º the kingsº are surely¹ª slain,ºª and they have smittenºª² oneº another:º now² therefore, Moab,º to the spoil.º 24 And when they cameºª to² the campº of Israel,º the Israelitesº rose upºª and smoteºª² the Moabites,º so that they fledºª beforeº² them: but they went² forward¹ª smitingºª² the Moabites,º even in [their] country. 25 And they beat downºª the cities,º and on every² goodº pieceº of land castºª every manº his stone,º and filledºª it; and they stoppedºª all² the wellsº of water,º and felledºª all² the goodº trees:º only² in Kirharasethº leftºª they the stonesº thereof; howbeit the slingersº went aboutºª [it], and smoteºª it.

The king of Moab, by sacrificing the king of Edom's son, raiseth the siege.

26 ¶ And when the kingº of Moabº sawºª that² the battleº was too soreºª for² him, he tookºª with² him sevenº hundredº menº that drewºª swords,º to break throughºª [even] unto² the kingº of Edom:º but they couldºª not.² 27 Then he tookºª² his eldestº sonº that² should have reignedºª in his stead,² and offeredºª him [for] a burnt offeringº upon² the wall.º And there was² greatº indignationº against² Israel:º and they departedºª from²² him, and returnedºª to [their own] land.º