2 Kings

Jehoram of Israel (852-841)

Jehoram, son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. He reigned for twelve years.

He did what was displeasing to the Lord, but not as his father or mother had done, for he removed the statue of Baal which his father had made.

Nonetheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which had become the sin of Israel and did not depart from it.

Mesha, the king of Moab, had flocks of sheep. He paid the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and a hundred thousand rams with their wool annually.

But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

At that time, King Jehoram set out from Samaria to mobilize the whole of Israel.

He also sent word to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you come with me to fight against Moab?” Jehoshaphat answered:“I will go with you for you, and I am one. My men and my horses are at your disposal.”

Jehoram asked: “By which way shall we go up?” And he answered:“By the way of the desert of Edom.”

The kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom had been going around for seven days, and there was no water for the soldiers and the animals that followed them.

Then the king of Israel said: “The Lord has called us three kings to give us into the hands of Moab.”

Then Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may consult the Lord?” One of the servants of the king of Israel said: “Elisha, son of Shaphat, is here. It was he who poured water on the hands of Elijah.”

Jehoshaphat agreed: “Indeed, God’s word comes to him.” So the king of Israel, the king of Edom, and Jehoshaphat went down to Elisha.

Elisha asked the king of Israel: “What do I have to do with you? Go see the prophets of your father or those of your mother.” But the king of Israel asked him: “Has the Lord perhaps called us three together to deliver us into the hands of Moab?”

Elisha replied: “Had not Jehoshaphat the king of Judah been before me, I swear by the Lord God of Hosts whom I serve, that I would not attend to you nor look at you.

Now, bring me someone who plays the harp.” As the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha,

and he said: “This is the word of the Lord: ‘Dig trenches and more trenches in this valley,

for the Lord says: “You shall not see wind or rain, but the valley shall be filled with water, and you, your troops and your livestock will drink.’”

This is easy for the Lord, for he shall give Moab into your hands.

You shall conquer all the fortified cities, cut down all fruit-bearing trees, close up all the springs of water, and scatter stones in all the cultivated fields.”

In the morning, at the time of the offering, water came from the direction of Edom, and the whole country was flooded.

The Moabites had learned that the kings had come to attack them, so they gathered together all the men able to bear arms and positioned them at the border.

When they woke up in the morning, they saw the sun shining upon the water, and this appeared to them as if it were blood.

So the Moabites said: “Look at the blood; the kings have surely turned against one another and killed each other. Let us now go and gather the booty!”

But the Israelites confronted, defeated, and routed them when they came to the camp. The Israelites pursued and entered Moab.

They destroyed the cities of Moab, and each man threw stones on the fertile land until it was covered. They closed up the springs of water and cut down fruit trees. Only Kir-haroseth was left with stones, but men armed with slings surrounded the city and began harassing it.

When the king of Moab saw that his enemies were winning, he gathered seven hundred warriors to break through the blockade opposite the king of Edom. But they failed.

So he took his first-born son, who was to succeed him as king, and sacrificed him in the fire upon the wall. The fury upon the Israelites was great, so they withdrew from there and returned to their land.