2 Chronicles 20:22 (DRB)

Passage

And when they began to sing praises, the Lord turned their ambushments upon themselves, that is to say, of the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and of mount Seir, who were come out to fight against Juda, and they were slain.

Nearby Context

2 Chronicles 20:20 And they rose early in the morning, and went out through the desert of Thecua: and as they were marching, Josaphat standing in the midst of them, said: Hear me, ye men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be secure: believe his prophets, and all things shall succeed well.

2 Chronicles 20:21 And he gave counsel to the people, and appointed the singing men of the Lord, to praise him by their companies, and to go before the army, and with one voice to say: Give glory to the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever.

2 Chronicles 20:22 And when they began to sing praises, the Lord turned their ambushments upon themselves, that is to say, of the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and of mount Seir, who were come out to fight against Juda, and they were slain.

2 Chronicles 20:23 For the children of Ammon, and of Moab, rose up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to kill and destroy them: and when they had made an end of them, they turned also against one another, and destroyed one another.

2 Chronicles 20:24 And when Juda came to the watch tower, that looketh toward the desert, they saw afar off all the country, for a great space, full of dead bodies, and that no one was left that could escape death.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "began", "sing", "praises", "lord", "turned", "ambushments", "upon", and "themselves". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "began" and "sing", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 21's "And he gave counsel to the people..." into verse 23's "For the children of Ammon and of...", so "began" and "sing" belong inside that flow. In 2 Chronicles context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "began" and "sing" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.