Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, September 9th, 2025
the Week of Proper 18 / Ordinary 23
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Wycliffe Bible

2 Kings 3:19

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.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Armies;   Moabites;   Stones;   Water;   Thompson Chain Reference - Jehoshaphat;   Wells;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Water;   Wells;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Mesha;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Moab;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Prophet, Prophetess, Prophecy;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Elisha;   Jehoram;   Jehoshaphat;   Moabite Stone;   Stone;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Dibon;   Well;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Elisha;   Kings, 1 and 2;   Kir-Hareseth;   Mesha;   Oracles;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Edom, Edomites;   Jehoshaphat;   Medeba;   Mesha;   Water;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Fountain;   Joram, Jehoram;   Mesha ;   Miracles;   Moab, Moabites ;   Stones;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Kirharaseth;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Armor;   Arms;   Jehoshaphat;   Mesha;   Moab;   Samaria;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Eli'sha;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom of Israel;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Elisha;   Fortification;   Good;   Kings, Books of;   Mar;   Siege;  

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."
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 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."
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 Therfor kyng Joram yede out of Samarie in that dai, and noumbride al Israel. 7 And he sente to Josephat, kyng of Juda, and seide, The kyng of Moab yede awei fro me; come thou with me ayens him to batel. Which Josephat answeride, Y schal stie; he that is myn, is thin; my puple is thi puple; and myn horsis ben thin horsis. 8 And he seide, Bi what weie schulen we stie? And he answeride, Bi the deseert of Ydumee. 9 Therfor the kyng of Israel, and the kyng of Juda, and the kyng of Edom, yeden forth, and cumpassiden bi the weie of seuene daies; and `watir was not to the oost, and to the beestis, that sueden hem. 10 And the kyng of Israel seide, Alas! alas! alas! the Lord hath gaderide vs thre kyngis to bitake vs in the hond of Moab. 11 And Josephat seide, Whether ony prophete of the Lord is here, that we biseche the Lord bi hym? And oon of the seruauntis of the kyng of Israel answeride, Elisee, the sone of Saphat, is here, that schedde watir on the hondis of Elie. 12 And Josephat seide, Is the word of the Lord at hym? Whiche seiden, `It is. And the kyng of Israel, and Josephat, kyng of Juda, and the kyng of Edom, yeden doun to hym. 13 Forsothe Elise seide to the kyng of Israel, What is to me and to thee? Go thou to the prophetis of thi fadir and of thi modir. And the kyng of Israel seide to hym, Whi hath the Lord gaderid these thre kyngis, to bitake hem into the hondis of Moab? 14 And Elisee seide to hym, The Lord of oostis lyueth, in whos siyt Y stonde, if Y were not aschamed of the cheer of Josephat, king of Juda, treuli Y hadde not perseyued, nethir Y hadde biholde thee. 15 Now forsothe brynge ye to me a sautrere. And whanne the sautrere song, the hond of the Lord was maad on hym, and he seide, The Lord seith these thingis,

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
And Adam seide, The womman which thou yauest felowe to me, yaf me of the tre, and Y eet.
Genesis 3:13
And the Lord seide to the womman, Whi didist thou this thing? Which answerde, The serpent disseyued me, and Y eet.
Genesis 3:16
Also God seide to the womman, Y schal multiplie thi wretchidnessis and thi conseyuyngis; in sorewe thou schalt bere thi children; and thou schalt be vndur power of the hosebonde, and he schal be lord of thee.
Genesis 3:21
And the Lord God made cootis of skynnys to Adam and Eue his wijf, and clothide hem; and seide, Lo!
Genesis 3:22
Adam is maad as oon of vs, and knowith good and yuel; now therfore se ye, lest perauenture he putte his hond, and take of the tre of lijf, and ete, and lyue with outen ende.
Genesis 18:27
Abraham answerde and seide, For Y bigan onys, Y schal speke to my Lord, sithen Y am dust and aische;
Genesis 23:4
Y am a comelyng and a pilgrym anentis you; yyue ye to me riyt of sepulcre with you, that Y birie my deed body.
Job 1:21
and seide, Y yede nakid out of the wombe of my modir, Y schal turne ayen nakid thidur; the Lord yaf, the Lord took awei; as it pleside the Lord, so `it is doon; the name of the Lord be blessid.
Job 19:26
and eft Y schal be cumpassid with my skyn, and in my fleisch Y schal se God, my sauyour.
Job 21:26
And netheles thei schulen slepe togidere in dust, and wormes schulen hile hem.

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.


 
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