And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.
Parallel translations
- WEB This is an easy thing in Yahweh’s sight. He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.
- BSB This is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD, and He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.
- NKJV And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.
- NASB And this is an insignificant thing in the sight of the Lord; He will also give the Moabites into your hand.
- NLT But this is only a simple thing for the Lord, for he will make you victorious over the army of Moab!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God calls the water a small matter and promises also to give Moab into Israel's hand. The greater victory is guaranteed alongside the lesser miracle.
Overview
What overwhelms the kings is "easy" in Yahweh's sight, magnifying His power over their crisis. Beyond water, God pledges total victory over Moab. The assurance reminds believers that no need or enemy is too great for the Lord to handle.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Luke 1:37For with God nothing shall be impossible.
- Jer 32:27Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
- Jer 32:17Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
- 2 Kgs 20:10And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
- Mark 10:27And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
- Isa 49:6And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
- Eph 3:20Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
- Ezek 8:17Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
- 1 Kgs 3:13And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
- Isa 7:1–9And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
- 1 Kgs 20:13And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
- 1 Kgs 20:28And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
- Isa 7:13And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
- 1 Kgs 16:31And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 3:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.