1. Truly, Joram, the son of Ahab, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. And he reigned for twelve years.
2. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as his father and mother did. For he took away the statues of Baal, which his father had made.
3. Yet truly, he did adhere to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin; neither did he withdraw from these.
4. Now Mesha, the king of Moab, raised many sheep. And he repaid to the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs, and one hundred thousand rams, with their fleece.
5. And when Ahab had died, he transgressed the pact that he had with the king of Israel.
6. Therefore, king Joram departed on that day from Samaria, and he took a count of all of Israel.
7. And he sent to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, saying: "The king of Moab was withdrawn from me. Come to battle with me against him." And he responded: "I will go up. What is mine, is yours. My people are your people. And my horses are your horses."
8. And he said, "Along which way shall we ascend?" So he responded, "Along the desert of Idumea."
9. Therefore, the king of Israel, and the king of Judah, and the king of Idumea, traveled, and they went by a circuitous path for seven days. But there was no water for the army or for the beasts of burden which were following them.