Jehoram Meets Moab Rebellion

3 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria ^(A)in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and his mother; for ^(B)he put away the sacred pillar of Baal ^(C)which his father had made. ³ Nevertheless, ^(D)he clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(E)which he made Israel sin; he did not depart from them.

⁴ Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and ^(F)used to pay the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. ⁵ But ^(G)when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. ⁶ And King Jehoram went out of Samaria ^[a]at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷ Then he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And he said, “I will go up; ^(H)I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸ He said, “Which way shall we go up?” And he ^[b]answered, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ So ^(I)the king of Israel went with ^(J)the king of Judah and ^(K)the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey, and there was no water for the army or for the cattle that followed them. ¹⁰ Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! For the Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, “^(L)Is there not a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?” And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, “^(M)Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, ^(N)who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.” 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 Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do I have to do with you? ^(O)Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” And the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹⁴ Elisha said, “^(P)As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you. ¹⁵ But now ^(Q)bring me a minstrel.” And it came about, when the minstrel played, that ^(R)the hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶ He said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’ ¹⁷ For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain; yet that valley ^(S)shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, both you and your cattle and your beasts. ¹⁸ This is but a ^(T)slight thing in the sight of the Lord; He will also give the Moabites into your hand. ^19 (U)Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and fell every good tree and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’” ²⁰ It happened in the morning ^(V)about the time of offering the sacrifice, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

²¹ Now all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. And all who were able to ^[c]put on armor and older were summoned and stood on the border. ²² They rose early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. ²³ Then they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely fought together, and they have slain one another. Now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!” ²⁴ But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites arose and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward ^[d]into the land, ^[e]slaughtering the Moabites. ^25 (W)Thus they destroyed the cities; and each one threw a stone on every piece of good land and filled it. So they stopped all the springs of water and felled all the good trees, until in ^(X)Kir-hareseth only they left its stones; however, the slingers went about it and struck it. ²⁶ When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him 700 men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. ²⁷ Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place, and ^(Y)offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel, and they departed from him and returned to their own land.

Parental Counsel

Tares among Wheat

²⁴ Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “^(A)The kingdom of heaven ^[a]may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed ^[b]tares among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ But when the ^[c]wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. ²⁷ The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? ^[d]How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ And he said to them, ‘An ^[e]enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but ^(B)gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The Mustard Seed

³¹ He presented another parable to them, saying, “^(C)The kingdom of heaven is like ^(D)a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; ³² and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that ^(E)the birds of the ^[f]air come and nest in its branches.”

The Leaven

³³ He spoke another parable to them, “^(F)The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in ^(G)three ^[g]pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them ^(H)without a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

The Tares Explained

³⁶ Then He left the crowds and went into ^(J)the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “^(K)Explain to us the parable of the ^[h]tares of the field.” ³⁷ And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is ^(L)the Son of Man, ³⁸ and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are ^(M)the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are ^(N)the sons of ^(O)the evil one; ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is ^(P)the ^[i]end of the age; and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at ^(Q)the ^[j]end of the age. ^41 (R)The Son of Man ^(S)will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom ^[k]all ^(T)stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and ^(U)will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place ^(V)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ^43 (W)Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ^(X)He who has ears, ^[l]let him hear.