2Sa 8, 2Ki 3 | ESV | STEP | After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines .

1 ^aAfter this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took ^bMetheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.

2 ^cAnd he defeated Moab and he measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground. Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites ^dbecame servants to David and ^ebrought tribute.

3 David also defeated ^fHadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^gZobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. 4 ^hAnd David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David ⁱhamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots. 5 ^jAnd when the ^kSyrians of Damascus came to help ^lHadadezer king of ^mZobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. 6 Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians ⁿbecame servants to David and brought tribute. ^oAnd the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. 7 And David took ^pthe shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.

9 When Toi king of ^qHamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. 11 ^rThese also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, 12 from Edom, ^sMoab, ^tthe Ammonites, ^uthe Philistines, ^vAmalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^wZobah.

13 And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in ^xthe Valley of Salt. 14 Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, ^yand all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David’s Officials

15 So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. 16 ^zJoab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and ^aaJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, 17 and ^abZadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and ^acSeraiah was secretary, 18 and ^adBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was over ^{▼▼Compare 20:23, 1 Chronicles 18:17, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks was over} the ^afCherethites and the Pelethites, and David’s sons were priests.

2 Kings 3

Moab Rebels Against Israel

1 ^agIn the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twelve years. 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the ^ahpillar of Baal ^aithat his father had made. 3 Nevertheless, he clung to ^ajthe sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^akwhich he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it.

4 Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, ^aland he had to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. 5 But ^amwhen Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. 7 And he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat 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. ^anI am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” 8 Then he said, “By which way shall we march?” Jehoram answered, “By the way of the wilderness of Edom.”

9 So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and ^aothe king of Edom. And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. 10 Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! ^apThe Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” 11 ^aqAnd Jehoshaphat 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, ^ar“Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, ^aswho poured water on the hands of Elijah.” 12 And 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 And Elisha said to the king of Israel, ^at“What have I to do with you? Go to ^authe prophets of your father and to ^avthe prophets of your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No; it is ^awthe Lord who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” 14 And Elisha said, ^ax“As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you. 15 But now ^aybring me a musician.” And when the musician played, ^azthe hand of the Lord came upon him. 16 And he said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘I will make this dry streambed full of pools.’ 17 For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind or rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals.’ 18 This is a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will also give the Moabites into your hand, 19 and you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop up all springs of water ^baand ruin every good piece of land with stones.” 20 The next morning, about the time of ^bboffering the sacrifice, behold, water came from the direction of Edom, till the country was filled with water.

21 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 border. 22 And when they rose early in the morning and the sun shone on the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. 23 And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely fought together and struck one another down. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!” 24 But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose and struck the Moabites, till they fled before them. And they went forward, striking the Moabites as they went. ^{▼▼Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} 25 And they overthrew the cities, and ^bdon 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 ^beKir-hareseth, and the slingers surrounded and attacked it. 26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him 700 ^bfswordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. 27 Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place ^bgand offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.