2 Kings · 27 verses
2 Kings 3
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
Elisha’s revelation arrives with a harpist: the music begins, and then the LORD’s hand comes upon him. It is a remarkably small doorway into a very large amount of water.
Three kings and one very dry armyvv. 1–12
Jehoram became king in Samaria and did evil, though he removed the sacred pillar of Baal. He still clung to the sins of Jeroboam. When Mesha rebelled after Ahab’s death, Jehoram gathered Israel and persuaded Jehoshaphat to join him, with the king of Edom completing the party. They took the roundabout way through the Desert of Edom and, after seven days, found no water for army or animals. Jehoshaphat asked for a prophet; a servant named Elisha, son of Shaphat, was produced, along with the useful detail that he had once poured water on Elijah’s hands.
Music, ditches, and a red-looking mistakevv. 13–27
Elisha had little patience for Jehoram, but regard for Jehoshaphat kept the interview open. He asked for a harpist; while the harpist played, the hand of the LORD came upon him. The kings were told to dig the valley, where water would appear without wind or rain, and the Moabites would be delivered into their hands. The water arrived from the direction of Edom at the morning sacrifice. Moab’s army mistook its red reflection for blood, hurried towards the plunder, and discovered instead three armies and a battle. The cities, fields, springs, and trees were ruined, while Kir-haraseth held out. At last Mesha’s desperate offering of his firstborn son brought great fury against Israel, and the kings withdrew.
The text
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Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
2 Kgs 3:1In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Jehoram son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria twelve years.
2 Kgs 3:2And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He removed the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.
2 Kgs 3:3Nevertheless, he clung to the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.
2 Kgs 3:4Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he would render to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.
2 Kgs 3:5But after the death of Ahab, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
2 Kgs 3:6So at that time King Jehoram set out from Samaria and mobilized all Israel.
2 Kgs 3:7And he sent a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” “I will go,” replied Jehoshaphat. “I am as you are, my people are your people, and my horses are your horses.”
2 Kgs 3:8Then he asked, “Which way shall we go up?” “By way of the Desert of Edom,” replied Joram.
2 Kgs 3:9So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out, and after they had traveled a roundabout route for seven days, they had no water for their army or for their animals.
2 Kgs 3:10“Alas,” said the king of Israel, “for the LORD has summoned these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab!”
2 Kgs 3:11But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here? Let us inquire of the LORD through him.” And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.”
2 Kgs 3:12Jehoshaphat affirmed, “The word of the LORD is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
2 Kgs 3:13Elisha, however, said to the king of Israel, “What have we to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and of your mother!” “No,” replied the king of Israel, “for it is the LORD who has summoned these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”
2 Kgs 3:14Then Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not for my regard for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or acknowledge you.
2 Kgs 3:15But now, bring me a harpist.” And while the harpist played, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha
2 Kgs 3:16and he said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Dig this valley full of ditches.’
2 Kgs 3:17For the LORD says, ‘You will not see wind or rain, but the valley will be filled with water, and you will drink—you and your cattle and your animals.’
2 Kgs 3:18This is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD, and He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.
2 Kgs 3:19And you shall attack every fortified city and every city of importance. You shall cut down every good tree, stop up every spring, and ruin every good field with stones.”
2 Kgs 3:20The next morning, at the time of the morning sacrifice, water suddenly flowed from the direction of Edom and filled the land.
2 Kgs 3:21Now all the Moabites had heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. So all who could bear arms, young and old, were summoned and stationed at the border.
2 Kgs 3:22When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water, and it looked as red as blood to the Moabites across the way.
2 Kgs 3:23“This is blood!” they exclaimed. “The kings have clashed swords and slaughtered one another. Now to the plunder, Moab!”
2 Kgs 3:24But when the Moabites came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and attacked them, and they fled before them. So the Israelites invaded their land and struck down the Moabites.
2 Kgs 3:25They destroyed the cities, and each man threw stones on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up every spring and cut down every good tree. Only Kir-haraseth was left with stones in place, but men with slings surrounded it and attacked it as well.
2 Kgs 3:26When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not prevail.
2 Kgs 3:27So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him, and offered him as a burnt offering on the city wall. And there was great fury against the Israelites, so they withdrew and returned to their own land.
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 221 passages were voted onto 25 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 17Psalms 107:35He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.
- 151 Samuel 16:23And whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would pick up his harp and play. Then Saul would find relief and feel better, and the spirit of distress would depart from him.
- 18Jeremiah 32:27“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
- 18Luke 1:37For no word from God will ever fail.”
- 17Isaiah 41:17–18The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
- 18Jeremiah 32:17“Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
- 15Ephesians 5:18–19Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
- 17Isaiah 48:21They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock, and water gushed out.
- 17Isaiah 43:19–20Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
- 27Micah 6:7Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
- 151 Samuel 10:5After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.
- 182 Kings 20:10“It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps,” answered Hezekiah, “but not for it to go back ten steps.”
- 27Deuteronomy 12:31You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
- 15Ezekiel 1:3the word of the LORD came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the LORD’s hand was upon him.
- 31 Kings 14:16So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”
- 111 Kings 22:7But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here of whom we can inquire?”
Onward