2 Kings 3:2-12

2 And he did evil before the Lord, but not like his father and his mother: for he took away the statues of Baal, which his father had made.
3 Nevertheless, he stuck to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, nor did he depart from them.
4 Now Mesa, king of Moab, nourished many sheep, and he paid to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with their fleeces.
5 And when Achab was dead, he broke the league which he had made with the king of Israel.
6 And king Joram went out that day from Samaria, and mustered all Israel.
7 And he sent to Josaphat; king of Juda, saying: The king of Moab is revolted from me: come with me against him to battle. And he answered: I will come up: he that is mine, is thine: my people are thy people: and my horses, thy horses.
8 And he said: Which way shall we go up? But he answered: By the desert of Edom.
9 So the king of Israel, and the king of Juda, and the king of Edom, went, and they fetched a compass of seven days journey, and there was no water for the army, and for the beasts, that followed them.
10 And the king of Israel said: Alas, alas, alas, the Lord hath gathered us three kings together, to deliver us into the hands of Moab.
11 And Josaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may beseech the Lord by him? And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered: Here is Eliseus, the son of Saphat, who poured water on the hands of Elias.
12 And Josaphat said: The word of the Lord is with him. And the king of Israel, and Josaphat, king of Juda, and the king of Edom, went down to him.

2 Kings 3:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 3

This chapter gives the character of Jehoram king of Israel, 2Ki 3:1-3, relates the rebellion of the king of Moab against him, 2Ki 3:4,5, the war that he and his allies entered into on that account, 2Ki 3:6-9 the distress the combined army were in for want of water, their application upon this to Elisha, who promised them water, and they had it in a wonderful manner, 2Ki 3:10-20 and the chapter is concluded with the rout of the Moabites, and the barbarity of their king to his eldest son, 2Ki 3:21-27.

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