¹And Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned for twelve years. ²And he did evil in the Lord's sight, but not like his father or like his mother, and he removed the statue of Baal which his father had made. ³But he clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin – he did not depart from them. ⁴Now Mesha king of Moab was a herdsman, and he handed over to the king of Israel one hundred thousand fatted lambs, and one hundred thousand rams for wool. ⁵But it came to pass when Ahab died that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. ⁶And King Jehoram went out from Samaria on that day, and he counted all of Israel. ⁷And he went along and sent messengers to Jehoshaphat king of Judah and said, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go to war against Moab with me?” And he said, “I will go up. I am as you are, and my people are as your people, and my horses are as your horses.” ⁸And he said, “Which way shall we go up?” And he said, “By the way of the Desert of Edom.” ⁹So the king of Israel and the king of Judah and the king of Edom moved, and they circled round for seven days, but there wasn't any water for the camp or for the beasts of burden which followed in their footsteps. ¹⁰And the king of Israel said, “Alas, for the Lord has called out these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” ¹¹But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, so we can consult the Lord through him?” Then one of the king of Israel's servants replied and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on Elijah's hands, is here.” ¹²Then Jehoshaphat said, “He has the word of the Lord.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. ¹³And Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I got to do with you? Go to your father's prophets and to your mother's prophets.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has called out these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” ¹⁴Then Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, if it were not that I respect Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I certainly would not look at you or glance at you. ¹⁵But as it is, bring me a musician, and it will come to pass that as the musician is playing music, the hand of the Lord will be on him.” ¹⁶And he said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Make many cisterns which feed off this watercourse’, ¹⁷for this is what the Lord says: ‘You will not see wind, and you will not see rain, yet that watercourse will be filled with water, and you will drink, as will your cattle and your beasts of burden.’ ¹⁸And this is easy in the Lord's sight, and he will deliver Moab into your hands. ¹⁹And you will attack every fortified city and every strategic city, and you will fell every good tree, and you will block all sources of water, and you will ravage every fine plot of land with stones.” ²⁰And it came to pass in the morning when the meal-offering was made, that there was water coming from the direction of Edom, and the land was filled with the water. ²¹And all of Moab heard that the kings had come up to wage war against them, and people were called up from all who could gird themselves and of higher rank, and they stood at the border. ²²And they got up early in the morning as the sun was rising over the water, and the Moabites saw water on the opposite side, as red as blood. ²³And they said, “It is blood. The kings must have been cut to pieces, and they must have struck each other down. And now, Moab, off to the spoil!” ²⁴And they went to Israel's camp, but Israel arose and attacked the Moabites, and they fled from their presence, and the Israelites attacked them, and they attacked Moab itself. ²⁵And they demolished the cities, and each man hurled his stone at every fine plot of land, and they filled it in, and they blocked every source of water, and they felled every good tree, until they had only left the stones at Kir-Hareseth. But the slingers surrounded it and attacked it. ²⁶Then when the king of Moab saw that the war was too strongly against him, he took seven hundred men with him who drew the sword, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not do it. ²⁷Then he took his firstborn son who would have reigned in his place, and he offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel, and they departed from him and returned to the land.