2 Kings 3
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 3
Joram’s Campaign against Moab. 1 Joram, the son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and he reigned for twelve years. 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as bad as his father and his mother. He removed the idol of Baal that his father had made. 3 Still, he clung to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, causing Israel to sin. He did not turn away from them.
4 Mesha, the king of Moab, tended sheep. He had to give the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool from one hundred thousand sheep. 5 When Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 King Joram went out from Samaria and he gathered together all of Israel. 7 He sent this message to Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you not go out with me to fight against Moab?” He answered, “I will go. My people are your people, and my horses are your horses.” 8 He said, “By which way should we go up?” He answered, “By way of the Desert of Edom.”
9 The king of Israel went out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They wandered around for seven days, but there was no water for the army or the animals that followed them. 10 The king of Israel said, “What? Has the Lord called three kings together only to hand them over into the hands of Moab?” 11 Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord so that we can inquire of the Lord through him?” A servant of the king of Israel answered, “There is Elisha, the son of Shaphat. He used to pour water onto the hands of Elijah.”[a] 12 Jehoshaphat 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. 13 But Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do you and I have to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and your mother.” The king of Israel said, “No, the Lord called together these three kings to deliver them into the hands of Moab.” 14 Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand, if it were not for the presence of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, I would not even look at you or take notice of you. 15 Now, bring a harpist to me.” While the harpist was playing, the hand of the Lord came upon him. 16 He said, “Thus says the Lord: Fill this valley with ditches. 17 For thus says the Lord: You will see neither wind nor rain, but this valley will fill up with water for you and your animals to drink. 18 This will be easy for the Lord, and he will also hand over the Moabites into your hands. 19 You will overthrow every fortified city and every larger city. You will cut down every good tree, stop up every well, and scatter stones in every good field.”
20 In the morning while they were offering a sacrifice, water came flowing from Edom. The land was filled with water. 21 The Moabites heard that the kings were coming to fight against them, and they gathered together everyone who was old enough to put on armor and older and they stationed them on the border.
22 When they got up in the morning, the sun was shining on the water, and the Moabites saw that the water on the other side was as red as blood.[b] 23 They said, “This is blood. Surely the kings have attacked and killed one another. To the spoil, Moab!”
24 When they arrived at the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and defeated the Moabites who fled before them. They pushed forward, cutting down the Moabites. 25 They then destroyed the cities, and each cast his stone onto a good piece of land, filling it in. They stopped up all of the wells, and they cut down all of the good trees. But they left the stones of Kir-hareseth, although the slingers surrounded and attacked it.
26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took seven hundred swordsmen with him to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not. 27 They took his oldest son who would have reigned in his stead, and they offered him up as a burnt offering upon the wall. They were furious at Israel. They departed and returned to their own land.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 3:11 Pour water onto the hands of Elijah: the recommendation of Elisha, a prophet who might have served Elijah, was affirmed by Jehoshaphat to the kings of Edom and Israel in their search for a prophet of the Lord.
- 2 Kings 3:22 A mirage caused by the rays of the rising sun on the desert, or else a coloring due to the ocher or red clay that was so plentiful as to give the region its name (Edom means “red”).
2 Reyes 3
Nueva Biblia de las Américas
Rebelión y derrota de Moab
3 Joram, hijo de Acab, comenzó a reinar sobre Israel en Samaria en el año dieciocho de Josafat, rey de Judá(A); y reinó doce años. 2 Hizo lo malo ante los ojos del Señor, aunque no como su padre y su madre, pues quitó el pilar sagrado de Baal(B) que su padre había hecho(C). 3 Sin embargo, se aferró a los pecados de Jeroboam(D), hijo de Nabat, con los que hizo pecar a Israel(E), y no se apartó de ellos.
4 Y Mesa, rey de Moab, era criador de ovejas, y pagaba al rey de Israel 100,000 corderos(F) y la lana de 100,000 carneros. 5 Pero cuando Acab murió, el rey de Moab se rebeló contra el rey de Israel(G). 6 Y aquel mismo día el rey Joram salió de Samaria y alistó a todo Israel. 7 Y fue y envió palabra a Josafat, rey de Judá, diciendo: «El rey de Moab se ha rebelado contra mí. ¿Irás conmigo a pelear contra Moab?». Y él respondió: «Subiré. Yo soy como tú, mi pueblo como tu pueblo, mis caballos como tus caballos(H)». 8 Y le preguntó: «¿Por qué camino subiremos?». Y Joram respondió: «Por el camino del desierto de Edom».
9 Entonces el rey de Israel(I) fue con el rey de Judá(J) y el rey de Edom(K); y después de dar un rodeo de siete días de camino, no había agua para el ejército ni para los animales que los seguían. 10 Así que el rey de Israel dijo: «¡Ah! Porque el Señor ha llamado a estos tres reyes para entregarlos en manos de Moab». 11 Pero Josafat dijo: «¿No hay aquí un profeta del Señor para que consultemos al Señor por medio de él(L)?». Y uno de los siervos del rey de Israel respondió: «Aquí está Eliseo, hijo de Safat(M), el que vertía agua en las manos de Elías(N)». 12 Y Josafat dijo: «La palabra del Señor está con él». Así que el rey de Israel y Josafat y el rey de Edom fueron adonde estaba Eliseo.
13 Entonces Eliseo dijo al rey de Israel: «¿Qué tengo que ver con usted? Vaya a los profetas de su padre y a los profetas de su madre(O)». Y el rey de Israel le dijo: «No, porque el Señor ha llamado a estos tres reyes para entregarlos en mano de Moab». 14 Y Eliseo dijo: «Vive el Señor de los ejércitos, ante quien estoy(P), que si no fuera por respeto a la presencia de Josafat, rey de Judá, no lo miraría ni lo atendería. 15 Pero tráiganme ahora un músico(Q)».
Y sucedió que mientras el músico tocaba, la mano del Señor vino sobre Eliseo(R), 16 y él dijo: «Así dice el Señor: “Hagan en este valle muchas zanjas”. 17 Pues así dice el Señor: “No verán viento, ni verán lluvias; sin embargo ese valle se llenará de agua(S), y beberán ustedes y sus ganados y sus bestias. 18 Aun esto es poco ante los ojos del Señor(T); también entregará en manos de ustedes a los moabitas. 19 Ustedes destruirán[a] toda ciudad fortificada y toda ciudad principal, talarán todo árbol bueno, cegarán todas las fuentes de agua y dañarán con piedras todo terreno fértil(U)”». 20 Y aconteció que por la mañana, a la hora de ofrecer el sacrificio(V), el agua vino por el camino de Edom, y la tierra se llenó de agua.
21 Y todos los moabitas oyeron que los reyes habían subido a pelear contra ellos. Y convocaron a todos, desde los que podían ponerse armadura[b] en adelante, y se colocaron en la frontera. 22 Se levantaron muy de mañana, y cuando el sol brilló sobre el agua, los moabitas vieron el agua frente a ellos tan roja como la sangre. 23 Entonces dijeron: «Esto es sangre; sin duda los reyes han peleado entre sí, y se han matado unos a otros. Ahora pues, ¡Moab, al despojo!». 24 Pero cuando llegaron al campamento de Israel, los israelitas se levantaron e hirieron a los moabitas, y estos huyeron delante de ellos; y los israelitas invadieron el país matando a los moabitas. 25 Destruyeron las ciudades, y cada uno arrojó su piedra en toda parcela de tierra buena, y las llenaron. Cegaron todas las fuentes de agua y talaron todos los árboles buenos(W), hasta dejar en Kir Hareset(X) solo sus piedras; no obstante, los honderos la rodearon y la destruyeron[c]. 26 Al ver el rey de Moab que la batalla arreciaba contra él, tomó consigo 700 hombres que sacaban espada, para abrir brecha hacia el rey de Edom, pero no pudieron. 27 Entonces tomó a su hijo primogénito que había de reinar en su lugar, y lo ofreció en holocausto sobre la muralla. Y hubo gran ira contra los israelitas, quienes se apartaron de allí(Y) y regresaron a su tierra.
2 Kings 3
King James Version
3 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
2 And he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.
3 Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
4 And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.
5 But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel.
7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.
8 And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.
9 So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.
10 And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!
11 But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may enquire of the Lord by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah.
12 And Jehoshaphat 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.
13 And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.
14 And Elisha said, As the Lord 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 But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.
16 And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches.
17 For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.
18 And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.
19 And ye shall smite every fenced 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 meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
21 And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood in the border.
22 And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood:
23 And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.
24 And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country.
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 all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.
26 And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not.
27 Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
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