rsv 2Kings:3:4-27 SEEK
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Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder ;
and he had to deliver annually to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs ,
and the wool of a hundred thousand rams .
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But when Ahab died ,
the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel .
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So King Jeho '
ram marched out of Sama '
ria at that time and mustered all Israel .
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And he went and sent word to Jehosh '
aphat king of Judah , "
The king of Moab has rebelled against me ;
will you go with me to battle against Moab ?"
And he said , "
I will go ;
I am as you are ,
my people as your people ,
my horses as your horses ."
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Then he said , "
By which way shall we march ?"
Jeho '
ram answered , "
By the way of the wilderness of Edom ."
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So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom .
And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days ,
there was no water for the army or for the beasts which followed them .
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Then the king of Israel said , "
Alas !
The LORD has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab ."
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And Jehosh '
aphat said , "
Is there no prophet of the LORD here ,
through whom we may inquire of the LORD ?"
Then one of the king of Israel '
s servants answered , "
Eli '
sha the son of Shaphat is here ,
who poured water on the hands of Eli '
jah ."
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And Jehosh '
aphat said , "
The word of the LORD is with him ."
So the king of Israel and Jehosh '
aphat and the king of Edom went down to him .
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And Eli '
sha said to the king of Israel , "
What have I to do with you ?
Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother ."
But the king of Israel said to him , "
No ;
it is the LORD who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab ."
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And Eli '
sha said , "
As the LORD of hosts lives ,
whom I serve ,
were it not that I have regard for Jehosh '
aphat the king of Judah ,
I would neither look at you ,
nor see you .
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But now bring me a minstrel ."
And when the minstrel played ,
the power of the LORD came upon him .
*
And he said , "
Thus says the LORD , `
I will make this dry stream-bed full of pools .'
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For thus says the LORD , `
You shall not see wind or rain ,
but that stream-bed shall be filled with water ,
so that you shall drink ,
you ,
your cattle ,
and your beasts .'
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This is a light thing in the sight of the LORD ;
he will also give the Moabites into your hand ,
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and you shall conquer every fortified city ,
and every choice city ,
and shall fell every good tree ,
and stop up all springs of water ,
and ruin every good piece of land with stones ."
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The next morning ,
about the time of offering the sacrifice ,
behold ,
water came from the direction of Edom ,
till the country was filled with water .
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When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them ,
all who were able to put on armor ,
from the youngest to the oldest ,
were called out ,
and were drawn up at the frontier .
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And when they rose early in the morning ,
and the sun shone upon the water ,
the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood .
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And they said , "
This is blood ;
the kings have surely fought together ,
and slain one another .
Now then ,
Moab ,
to the spoil !"
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But when they came to the camp of Israel ,
the Israelites rose and attacked the Moabites ,
till they fled before them ;
and they went forward ,
slaughtering the Moabites as they went .
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And they overthrew the cities ,
and on every good piece of land every man threw a stone ,
until it was covered ;
they stopped every spring of water ,
and felled all the good trees ;
till only its stones were left in Kir-har '
eseth ,
and the slingers surrounded and conquered it .
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When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him ,
he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through ,
opposite the king of Edom ;
but they could not .
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Then he took his eldest son who was to reign in his stead ,
and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall .
And there came great wrath upon Israel ;
and they withdrew from him and returned to their own land .