12. Jehoshaphat said, "The Lord speaks through him." So the king of Israel went down to see Elisha. Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom also went there.
13. Elisha spoke to the king of Israel. He said, "What do you and I have in common? Go to your father's prophets. Go to your mother's prophets." "No," the king of Israel answered. "The Lord called us three kings together. He did it to hand us over to Moab."
14. Elisha said, "I serve the Lord who rules over all. You can be sure that he lives. And you can be just as sure that I have respect for Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. If I didn't, I wouldn't look at you or even notice you.
15. But now bring me someone who plays the harp." While that person was playing the harp, the Lord's powerful hand came on Elisha.
16. Elisha announced, "The Lord says, 'Dig a lot of ditches in this valley.'
17. Do it because the Lord says, 'You will not see wind or rain. But this valley will be filled with water. Then you, your cattle and your other animals will have water to drink.'
18. "That's an easy thing for the Lord to do. He will also hand Moab over to you.
19. You will destroy every city that has high walls around it. You will destroy every major town. You will cut down every good tree. You will stop up all of the springs of water. And you will cover every good field with stones."
20. The next day, the time came to offer the morning sacrifice. And then it happened! Water was flowing from the direction of Edom! In fact, the land was filled with water!
21. Now all of the people of Moab had heard that the kings had come to fight against them. So Moab sent for all of its fighting men. It didn't matter whether they were young or old. They sent for everyone who could carry a weapon. All of them were stationed at the border.
22. They got up early in the morning. The sun was already shining on the water. Across the way, the water looked red to the men of Moab. It looked like blood.
23. "That's blood!" they said. "Those kings must have fought and killed each other. Let's go, Moab! Let's take everything that has any value."
24. So the men of Moab went to the camp of Israel. Just as they arrived there, the men of Israel got ready to fight. They fought against the men of Moab until they ran away. The men of Israel marched into the land and attacked it. They killed the people of Moab.
25. They destroyed the towns. Each man threw a large stone on every good field. They did that until the fields were covered. They stopped up all of the springs of water. And they cut down every good tree. The only town that was left with any stones in place was Kir Hareseth. But men who were armed with slings surrounded it. Then they attacked it.
26. The king of Moab saw that the battle had gone against him. So he took with him 700 men who had swords. They tried to break through the battle lines to the king of Edom. But they couldn't do it.