2 Kings 3:18

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
This is easy in the Lord’s sight. He will also hand Moab over to you.

Hebrew Names Version
This is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will also deliver the Mo`avim into your hand.

King James Version
And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord : he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.

English Standard Version
This is a light thing in the sight of the Lord . He will also give the Moabites into your hand,

New Century Version
This is easy for the Lord to do; he will also hand Moab over to you.

New English Translation
This is an easy task for the Lord ; he will also hand Moab over to you.

Amplified Bible
'This is but a simple thing in the sight of the LORD; He will also hand over the Moabites to you.

New American Standard Bible
'And this is an insignificant thing in the sight of the LORD; He will also give the Moabites into your hand.

Geneva Bible (1587)
But this is a small thing in the sight of the Lorde: for he will giue Moab into your hande.

Legacy Standard Bible
And this is but a light thing in the sight of Yahweh; He will also give the Moabites into your hand.

Contemporary English Version
That simple thing isn't all the Lord is going to do. He will also help you defeat Moab's army.

Complete Jewish Bible
That's an easy thing to do, from Adonai 's perspective. He will also hand Mo'av over to you.

Darby Translation
And this is a light thing in the sight of Jehovah: he will give the Moabites also into your hand.

Easy-to-Read Version
This is an easy thing for the Lord to do. He will also help you defeat the Moabites.

George Lamsa Translation
And this is but a small thing in the sight of the LORD; he will deliver the Moabites also into your hands.

Good News Translation
And Elisha continued, "But this is an easy thing for the Lord to do; he will also give you victory over the Moabites.

Lexham English Bible
And since this is too trivial in the eyes of Yahweh, he will also give Moab into your hand,

Literal Translation
But this is a light thing in the eyes of Jehovah; He also has given Moab into your hand.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yee and that is but a small thinge in the sighte of the LORDE. And the Moabites shal he delyuer in to youre handes,

American Standard Version
And this is but a light thing in the sight of Jehovah: he will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

Bible in Basic English
And this will be only a small thing to the Lord: in addition he will give the Moabites into your hands.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And this is yet but a small thing in the sight of the Lorde, forasmuch as he wil geue ouer the Moabites also into your handes.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

King James Version (1611)
And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord, he will deliuer the Moabites also into your hand.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And this is a light thing in the eyes of the Lord: I will also deliver Moab into your hand.

English Revised Version
And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

Berean Standard Bible
This is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD, and He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And this is litil in the siyt of the Lord. Ferthermore also he schal bitake Moab in to youre hondis;

Young's Literal Translation
`And this hath been light in the eyes of Jehovah, and he hath given Moab into your hand,

Update Bible Version
And this is but a light thing in the sight of Yahweh: he will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

Webster's Bible Translation
And this is [but] a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.

World English Bible
This is but a light thing in the sight of Yahweh: he will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

New King James Version
And this is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

New Living Translation
But this is only a simple thing for the Lord , for he will make you victorious over the army of Moab!

New Life Bible
This is only a small thing in the eyes of the Lord. He will give you the Moabites also.

New Revised Standard
This is only a trifle in the sight of the Lord , for he will also hand Moab over to you.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, this being a small thing in the eyes of Yahweh, he will deliver Moab into your hand;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And this is a small thing in the sight of the Lord: moreover, he will deliver, also, Moab into your hands.

Revised Standard Version
This is a light thing in the sight of the LORD; he will also give the Moabites into your hand,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'This is but a slight thing in the sight of the LORD; He will also give the Moabites into your hand.

Contextual Overview

⁸Joram of Israel Joram son of Ahab began his rule over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He was king for twelve years. In God 's sight he was a bad king. But he wasn't as bad as his father and mother—to his credit he destroyed the obscene Baal stone that his father had made. But he hung on to the sinful practices of Jeroboam son of Nebat, the ones that had corrupted Israel for so long. He wasn't about to give them up. King Mesha of Moab raised sheep. He was forced to give the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and another 100,000 rams. When Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. So King Joram set out from Samaria and prepared Israel for war. His first move was to send a message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Would you join me and fight him?" "I'm with you all the way," said Jehoshaphat. "My troops are your troops, my horses are your horses. Which route shall we take?" "Through the badlands of Edom." ⁹ The king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom started out on what proved to be a looping detour. After seven days they had run out of water for both army and animals. ¹⁰ The king of Israel said, "Bad news! God has gotten us three kings out here to dump us into the hand of Moab." ¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there a prophet of God anywhere around through whom we can consult God ?" One of the servants of the king of Israel said, "Elisha son of Shaphat is around somewhere—the one who was Elijah's right-hand man." ¹² Jehoshaphat said, "Good! A man we can trust!" So the three of them—the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom—went to meet him. ¹³ Elisha addressed the king of Israel, "What do you and I have in common? Go consult the puppet-prophets of your father and mother." "Never!" said the king of Israel. "It's God who has gotten us into this fix, dumping all three of us kings into the hand of Moab." ¹⁴Elisha said, "As God -of-the-Angel-Armies lives, and before whom I stand ready to serve, if it weren't for the respect I have for Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I wouldn't give you the time of day. But considering—bring me a minstrel." (When a minstrel played, the power of God came on Elisha.) ¹⁶He then said, " God 's word: Dig ditches all over this valley. Here's what will happen—you won't hear the wind, you won't see the rain, but this valley is going to fill up with water and your army and your animals will drink their fill. This is easy for God to do; he will also hand over Moab to you. You will ravage the country: Knock out its fortifications, level the key villages, clear-cut the orchards, clog the springs, and litter the cultivated fields with stones."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

And this: 1 Kings 3:13, Jeremiah 32:17, Jeremiah 32:27, Luke 1:37, Ephesians 3:20

a light: 2 Kings 20:10, 1 Kings 16:31, Isaiah 7:13, Isaiah 49:6, Ezekiel 8:17

he will: 1 Kings 20:13, 1 Kings 20:28, Isaiah 7:1-9

Reciprocal: Numbers 21:34 - for I have 1 Samuel 23:4 - for I will 1 Kings 20:21 - went out 1 Chronicles 17:17 - a small thing

Cross-References

Genesis 3:14
God told the serpent: "Because you've done this, you're cursed, cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals, Cursed to slink on your belly and eat dirt all your life. I'm declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers. He'll wound your head, you'll wound his heel."

Job 1:21
Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I'll return to the womb of the earth. God gives, God takes. God's name be ever blessed.

Psalms 90:3
So don't return us to mud, saying, "Back to where you came from!" Patience! You've got all the time in the world—whether a thousand years or a day, it's all the same to you. Are we no more to you than a wispy dream, no more than a blade of grass That springs up gloriously with the rising sun and is cut down without a second thought? Your anger is far and away too much for us; we're at the end of our rope. You keep track of all our sins; every misdeed since we were children is entered in your books. All we can remember is that frown on your face. Is that all we're ever going to get? We live for seventy years or so (with luck we might make it to eighty), And what do we have to show for it? Trouble. Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard. Who can make sense of such rage, such anger against the very ones who fear you?

Proverbs 22:5
The perverse travel a dangerous road, potholed and mud-slick; if you know what's good for you, stay clear of it.

Isaiah 7:23
But that's not the end of it. This country that used to be covered with fine vineyards—thousands of them, worth millions!—will revert to a weed patch. Weeds and thornbushes everywhere! Good for nothing except, perhaps, hunting rabbits. Cattle and sheep will forage as best they can in the fields of weeds—but there won't be a trace of all those fertile and well-tended gardens and fields.

Jeremiah 4:3
Here's another Message from God to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: "Plow your unplowed fields, but then don't plant weeds in the soil! Yes, circumcise your lives for God's sake. Plow your unplowed hearts, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem. Prevent fire—the fire of my anger— for once it starts it can't be put out. Your wicked ways are fuel for the fire.

Matthew 13:7
A Harvest Story At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories. "What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams. "Are you listening to this? Really listening?" The disciples came up and asked, "Why do you tell stories?" He replied, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn't been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That's why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they're blue in the face and not get it. I don't want Isaiah's forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open but you don't hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don't see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them. "But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance. "Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn't take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person's heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road. "The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it. "The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it. "The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams." He told another story. "God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too. "The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn't it? Where did these thistles come from?' "He answered, ‘Some enemy did this.' "The farmhands asked, ‘Should we weed out the thistles?' "He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you'll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.'" Another story. "God's kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it." Another story. "God's kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread—and waits while the dough rises." All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon. His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy: I will open my mouth and tell stories; I will bring out into the open things hidden since the world's first day. Jesus dismissed the congregation and went into the house. His disciples came in and said, "Explain to us that story of the thistles in the field." So he explained. "The farmer who sows the pure seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the pure seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, the curtain of history. The harvest hands are angels. "The picture of thistles pulled up and burned is a scene from the final act. The Son of Man will send his angels, weed out the thistles from his kingdom, pitch them in the trash, and be done with them. They are going to complain to high heaven, but nobody is going to listen. At the same time, ripe, holy lives will mature and adorn the kingdom of their Father. "Are you listening to this? Really listening? "God's kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field. "Or, God's kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it. "Or, God's kingdom is like a fishnet cast into the sea, catching all kinds of fish. When it is full, it is hauled onto the beach. The good fish are picked out and put in a tub; those unfit to eat are thrown away. That's how it will be when the curtain comes down on history. The angels will come and cull the bad fish and throw them in the garbage. There will be a lot of desperate complaining, but it won't do any good." Jesus asked, "Are you starting to get a handle on all this?" They answered, "Yes." He said, "Then you see how every student well-trained in God's kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it." When Jesus finished telling these stories, he left there, returned to his hometown, and gave a lecture in the meetinghouse. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. "We had no idea he was this good!" they said. "How did he get so wise, get such ability?" But in the next breath they were cutting him down: "We've known him since he was a kid; he's the carpenter's son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?" They got their noses all out of joint. But Jesus said, "A prophet is taken for granted in his hometown and his family." He didn't do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference.

Romans 14:2
For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ's table, wouldn't it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn't eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord,.... To give them such a plenty of water in such an extraordinary manner: he would do for them what was greater, not only save them from falling into the hand of Moab, which they feared,

but he wilt deliver the Moabites into your hands; which was more than was asked for, or expected.