2 Kings 3:19

New Living Translation

You will conquer the best of their towns, even the fortified ones. You will cut down all their good trees, stop up all their springs, and ruin all their good land with stones."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then you will attack every fortified city and every choice city. You will cut down every good tree and stop up every spring. You will ruin every good piece of land with stones.”

Hebrew Names Version
You shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

King James Version
And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

English Standard Version
and you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop up all springs of water and ruin every good piece of land with stones."

New Century Version
You will destroy every strong, walled city and every important town. You will cut down every good tree and stop up all springs. You will ruin every good field with rocks."

New English Translation
You will defeat every fortified city and every important city. You must chop down every productive tree, stop up all the springs, and cover all the cultivated land with stones."

Amplified Bible
'You shall strike every fortified city and every choice (principal) city, and cut down every good tree and stop up all sources of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.'"

New American Standard Bible
'Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and cut down every good tree and stop up all the springs of water, and spoil every good plot of land with stones.'"

Geneva Bible (1587)
And ye shal smite euery strong towne and euery chiefe citie, and shall fell euery faire tree, & shall stoppe all the fountaines of water, & marre euery good fielde with stones.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and fell every good tree and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.'"

Contemporary English Version
You will capture all their walled cities and important towns. You will chop down every good tree and stop up every spring of water, then ruin their fertile fields by covering them with rocks.

Complete Jewish Bible
You will conquer every fortified city and every choice town, you will chop down every good tree, stop up every well and ruin every good field with stones."

Darby Translation
And ye shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

Easy-to-Read Version
You will attack every strong city and every good city. You will cut down every good tree. You will stop up all the springs of water. You will ruin every good field with stones."

George Lamsa Translation
And you shall destroy every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and pollute all the springs of water and mar every good piece of land with stones.

Good News Translation
You will conquer all their beautiful fortified cities; you will cut down all their fruit trees, stop all their springs, and ruin all their fertile fields by covering them with stones."

Lexham English Bible
and you shall defeat every fortified city, every choice city, and you shall fell every good tree. All of the springs of water you shall stop up, and every tract of good land you shall ruin with the stones."

Literal Translation
And you shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city. And you shall fell every good tree, and you shall stop all the fountains of water. And you shall mar every good lot with stones.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
so yt ye shal smyte all the stronge cities, and all ye chosen cities & shal fell downe all the good trees, and stoppe all the welles of water and all the good feldes shall ye make waist with stones.

American Standard Version
And ye shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all fountains of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

Bible in Basic English
And you are to put every walled town to destruction, cutting down every good tree, and stopping up every water-spring, and making all the good land rough with stones.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And ye shal smite euery strong towne, and euery goodly citie, and shal fell euery pleasaunt tree, and stop euery well of water, and marre euery good platte of ground with stones.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And ye shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all fountains of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.'

King James Version (1611)
And ye shall smite euery fenced citie, and euery choice citie, and shall fell euery good tree, and stop all welles of water, and marre euery good piece of land with stones.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And ye shall smite every strong city, and ye shall cut down every good tree, and ye shall stop all wells of water, and spoil every good piece of land with stones.

English Revised Version
And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all fountains of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

Berean Standard Bible
And 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."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and ye schulen smyte ech strengthid citee, and ech chosun citee, and ye schulen kitte doun ech tre berynge fruyt, and ye schulen stoppe alle the wellis of watris, and ye schulen hile with stonys ech noble feeld.

Young's Literal Translation
and ye have smitten every fenced city, and every choice city, and every good tree ye cause to fall, and all fountains of waters ye stop, and every good portion ye mar with stones.'

Update Bible Version
And you shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all fountains of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

Webster's Bible Translation
And ye shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

World English Bible
You shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

New King James Version
Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones."

New Life Bible
Then you will destroy every strong city and cut down every good tree. You will close all the wells of water, and destroy every good piece of land with stones."

New Revised Standard
You shall conquer every fortified city and every choice city; every good tree you shall fell, all springs of water you shall stop up, and every good piece of land you shall ruin with stones."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And ye shall smite every strong city, and every choice city, and, every goodly tree, shall ye fell, and, all fountains water, shall ye close up, - and, every goodly heritage, shall ye mar with stones.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And you shall destroy every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall cut down every fruitful tree, and shall stop up all the springs of waters, and every goodly field you shall cover with stones.

Revised Standard Version
and you shall conquer every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop up all springs of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and fell every good tree and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.'"

Contextual Overview

⁶ So King Joram promptly mustered the army of Israel and marched from Samaria. ⁷ On the way, he sent this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you join me in battle against him?" And Jehoshaphat replied, "Why, of course! You and I are as one. My troops are your troops, and my horses are your horses." ⁸ Then Jehoshaphat asked, "What route will we take?" "We will attack from the wilderness of Edom," Joram replied. ⁹ The king of Edom and his troops joined them, and all three armies traveled along a roundabout route through the wilderness for seven days. But there was no water for the men or their animals. ¹⁰ "What should we do?" the king of Israel cried out. "The Lord has brought the three of us here to let the king of Moab defeat us." ¹¹ But King Jehoshaphat of Judah asked, "Is there no prophet of the Lord with us? If there is, we can ask the Lord what to do through him." One of King Joram's officers replied, "Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to be Elijah's personal assistant." ¹² Jehoshaphat said, "Yes, the Lord speaks through him." So the king of Israel, King Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of Edom went to consult with Elisha. ¹³ "Why are you coming to me?" Elisha asked the king of Israel. "Go to the pagan prophets of your father and mother!" But King Joram of Israel said, "No! For it was the Lord who called us three kings here—only to be defeated by the king of Moab!" ¹⁴ Elisha replied, "As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I wouldn't even bother with you except for my respect for King Jehoshaphat of Judah. ¹⁵ Now bring me someone who can play the harp." While the harp was being played, the power of the Lord came upon Elisha,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

And ye: 2 Kings 13:17, Numbers 24:17, Judges 6:16, 1 Samuel 15:3, 1 Samuel 23:2

fell: Deuteronomy 20:19, Deuteronomy 20:20

mar: Heb. grieve, 2 Kings 3:25

Cross-References

Genesis 3:12
The man replied, "It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it."

Genesis 3:13
Then the Lord God asked the woman, "What have you done?" "The serpent deceived me," she replied. "That's why I ate it."

Genesis 3:16
Then he said to the woman, "I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you."

Genesis 3:21
And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.

Genesis 3:22
Then the Lord God said, "Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!"

Genesis 18:27
Then Abraham spoke again. "Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes.

Genesis 23:4
"Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial."

Job 1:21
He said, "I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord !"

Job 19:26
And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!

Job 21:26
But both are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same maggots.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And ye shall smite every fenced city and every choice city,.... That is, the inhabitants of them with the sword, and demolish them also, 2 Kings 3:25, and shall fell every good tree; which seems contrary to the law in Deuteronomy 20:19, but that may respect trees belonging to a city when besieged only, or only to Canaanitish cities; or the law was now dispensed with, and that for this time only, to make the punishment of Moab the greater, for their rebellion and other sins:

and stop all wells of water; which must be very distressing to those that survived the calamity of the sword:

and mar every good piece of land with stones; as that it could not be ploughed and sowed, nor anything spring up and grow upon it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ye shall fell every good tree - This is not an infringement of the rule laid down in Deuteronomy 20:19-20. The Israelites were not forbidden to fell the fruit trees in an enemy’s country, as a part of the ravage of war, when they had no thoughts of occupying the country. The plan of thus injuring an enemy was probably in general use among the nations of these parts at the time. We see the destruction represented frequently on the Assyrian monuments and mentioned in the inscriptions of Egypt.

And stop all wells of water - The stoppage of wells was a common feature of ancient, and especially Oriental, warfare (compare Genesis 26:15-18).

Mar ... with stones - The exact converse of that suggested in Isaiah 5:2. The land in and about Palestine is so stony that the first work of the cultivator is to collect the surface stones together into heaps. An army marching through a land could easily undo this work, dispersing the stones thus gathered, and spreading them once more over the fields.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 3:19. Shall fell every good tree — Every tree by which your enemies may serve themselves for fortifications, c. But surely fruit trees are not intended here for this was positively against the law of God, Deuteronomy 20:19-20: "When thou shalt besiege a city - thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof - for the tree of the field is man's life - only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down."

Stop all wells of water — In those hot countries this would lead sooner than any thing else to reduce an enemy.

Mar every good piece of land with stones. — Such a multitude of men, each throwing a stone on a good field as they passed, would completely destroy it.