1 And Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; and he reigned twelve years.
2 And he wrought evil in the sight of Jehovah, but not like his father, and like his mother; and he took away the column of Baal that his father had made.
3 Only, he clave to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin: he did not depart therefrom.
4 And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool.
5 And it came to pass when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 And at that time king Jehoram went out of Samaria and inspected all Israel.
7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.
8 And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he said, By way of the wilderness of Edom.
9 And the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom, and they made a circuit of seven days' journey. And there was no water for the army, and for the cattle that followed them.
10 And the king of Israel said, Alas! that Jehovah has called these three kings together, to give them into the hand of Moab!
11 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah that we may inquire of Jehovah by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.
12 And Jehoshaphat said, The word of Jehovah is with him. And the king of Israel and 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 thee? go to the prophets of thy father and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said to him, Not so, for Jehovah has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.
14 And Elisha said, As Jehovah of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee nor see thee.
15 And now fetch me a minstrel. And it came to pass when the minstrel played, that the hand of Jehovah was upon him.
16 And he said, Thus saith Jehovah: Make this valley full of ditches.
17 For thus saith Jehovah: Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet this valley shall be filled with water, and ye shall drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.
18 And this is a light thing in the sight of Jehovah: he will give the Moabites also into your hand.
19 And ye shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.
20 And it came to pass in the morning, when the oblation was offered up, that behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
21 And all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, and they were called together, all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood by the border.
22 And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun rose upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side red as blood.
23 And they said, This is blood: the kings are entirely destroyed, and have smitten one another; and now, Moab, to the spoil!
24 And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, and they fled before them; and they entered in and smote Moab.
25 And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone and filled it, and they stopped every well of water, and felled every good tree, until they left {only} the stones at Kirhareseth; and the slingers went about it, and smote it.
26 And the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, and he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not.
27 And he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him up for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to {their own} land.
1 Joram, Akabs sønn, blev konge over Israel i Samaria i Judas konge Josafats attende år, og han regjerte tolv år.
2 Han gjorde hvad ondt var i Herrens øine, dog ikke som sin far og mor; for han tok bort den Ba'al-støtte som hans far hadde latt gjøre.
3 Dog blev han hengende ved Jeroboams, Nebats sønns synder, de synder som Jeroboam hadde fått Israel til å gjøre; dem vek han ikke fra.
4 Mesa, kongen i Moab, hadde meget fe, og han betalte i skatt til Israels konge hundre tusen lam og ull av hundre tusen værer.
5 Men da Akab var død, falt kongen i Moab fra Israels konge.
6 Da drog kong Joram ut fra Samaria og mønstret hele Israel.
7 Så sendte han bud til Judas konge Josafat og lot si: Moabs konge er falt fra mig; vil du dra med mig og stride mot Moab? Han svarte: Ja, jeg vil dra med; som du, så jeg, som ditt folk, så mitt folk, som dine hester, så mine hester.
8 Og han spurte: Hvilken vei skal vi dra dit op? Han svarte: Gjennem Edoms ørken.
9 Så drog Israels konge og Judas konge og Edoms konge avsted, og da de hadde faret syv dagsreiser omkring, fantes det ikke vann, hverken for hæren eller for buskapen som de hadde med sig.
10 Da sa Israels konge: Akk, at Herren har kalt disse tre konger hit for å gi dem i Moabs hånd!
11 Men Josafat sa: Er det ikke nogen av Herrens profeter her, så vi kunde spørre Herren til råds gjennem ham? Da svarte en av Israels konges tjenere: Elisa, Safats sønn, er her, han som helte vann over Elias' hender*. / {* d.e. tjente ham.}
12 Så drog Israels konge og Josafat og Edoms konge ned til ham.
13 Men Elisa sa til Israels konge: Hvad har jeg med dig å gjøre? Gå du til din fars profeter og til din mors profeter! Israels konge svarte ham: Tal ikke så! For Herren har kalt disse tre konger hit for å gi dem i Moabs hånd.
14 Da sa Elisa: Så sant Herren, hærskarenes Gud, lever, han hvis tjener jeg er: Var det ikke for Judas konge Josafats skyld, så vilde jeg ikke ense dig eller se på dig.
15 Men hent nu en harpespiller til mig! Da så harpespilleren spilte på sin harpe, kom Herrens Ånd over ham*. / {* ESK 1, 3.}
16 Og han sa: Så sier Herren: Gjør grøft ved grøft i dalen her!
17 For sa sier Herren: I skal ikke se vind og ikke se regn, men allikevel skal denne dal fylles med vann, så I får drikke, både I selv og eders buskap og eders kløvdyr.
18 Men dette er ikke nok i Herrens øine; han vil også gi Moab i eders hånd.
19 Og I skal innta hver fast by og hver storby, og hvert godt tre skal I felle, og alle vannkilder skal I tilstoppe, og hvert godt stykke land skal I ødelegge med sten.
20 Og morgenen efter, ved den tid matofferet blir båret frem, da kom det vann fra Edoms-kanten, og landet fyltes med vann.
21 Da moabittene fikk høre at kongene hadde draget op for å stride mot dem, blev de alle kalt sammen, så mange som på nogen måte kunde bære våben, og de stilte sig op ved grensen.
22 Men tidlig om morgenen, da solen gikk op over vannet, så det ut for moabittene som om vannet foran dem var rødt som blod.
23 Og de sa: Det er blod; kongene har gjort ende på hverandre og slått hverandre ihjel. Nu til plyndring, moabitter!
24 Men da de kom til Israels leir, reiste lsraelittene sig og slo moabittene, som flyktet for dem, og de trengte inn i landet og slo atter moabittene.
25 De rev ned byene, og på hvert godt stykke land kastet de hver sin sten og fylte det op, og hver vannkilde tilstoppet de, og hvert godt tre felte de, så det ikke blev levnet annet enn stenene i Kir-Hareset; og denne by omringet slyngekasterne og skjøt på den.
26 Da Moabs konge så at striden blev ham for hård, tok han med sig syv hundre våbenføre menn og vilde bryte igjennem på den kant hvor Edoms konge stod; men de kunde ikke.
27 Da tok han sin førstefødte sønn, som skulde bli konge i hans sted, og ofret ham som brennoffer på muren. Da kom det en stor vrede over Israel, og de brøt op derfra og vendte tilbake til sitt land.