◄ 2 Kings 3:27 ►
Then he took his oldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
Treasury of Scripture

offered him In cases of great extremity, it was customary in various heathen nations, to offer {human} sacrifices, and even their own {children.} This was frequent among the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Scythians, Gauls, Africans, and others; and was the natural fruit of a religious system which had for the objects of its worship cruel and merciless divinities. The king of Moab, in this case, sacrificed his son to obtain the favour of Chemosh {his god}, who, being a devil, delighted in blood and murder, and the destruction of mankind. The dearer any thing was to them, the more acceptable those idolaters thought the sacrifice, and therefore burnt their children in the fire to their honour.

Genesis 22:2,13 And he said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and get you into the land of Moriah...

Deuteronomy 12:31 You shall not do so to the LORD your God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hates, have they done to their gods...

Judges 11:31,39 Then it shall be, that whatever comes forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon...

Psalm 106:36,38 And they served their idols: which were a snare to them...

Ezekiel 16:20 Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and these have you sacrificed to them to be devoured...

Micah 6:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression...

they departed

1 Samuel 14:36-46 And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them...

1 Kings 20:13,28,43 And, behold, there came a prophet to Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus said the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? behold...



Context
Jehoram Overcomes Moab's Revolt

1Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. 2And he worked evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made. 3Nevertheless he joined to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom. 4And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep master, and rendered to the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool. 5But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel. 7And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me: will you go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as you are, my people as your people, and my horses as your horses. 8And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom. 9So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them. 10And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab! 11But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah. 12And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. 13And Elisha said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with you? get you to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother. And the king of Israel said to him, No: for the LORD has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab. 14And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you. 15But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came on him. 16And he said, Thus said the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches. 17For thus said the LORD, You shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that you may drink, both you, and your cattle, and your beasts. 18And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand. 19And you 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. 20And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. 21And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armor, and upward, and stood in the border. 22And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood: 23And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. 24And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country. 25And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; however, the slingers went about it, and smote it. 26And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even to the king of Edom: but they could not. 27Then he took his oldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
Parallel Verses
American Standard Version
Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall: and there was great indignation in Israel, and presently they departed from him, and returned into their own country.

Darby Bible Translation
And he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him up for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

King James Bible
Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

Young's Literal Translation
and he taketh his son, the first-born who reigneth in his stead, and causeth him to ascend -- a burnt-offering on the wall, and there is great wrath against Israel, and they journey from off him, and turn back to the land.

2 Kings 3:26
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